


The Ultimate Daydream

by AwesomeTrinket



Category: Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Camilla Swann, Dogs, EVERYONE is here - Freeform, Gen, Naomi Liu, OC has a dog, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and i love that dog so much, dogs are pure, idk yet, isabelle is pure, may have some angst later, will update character list as i go on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2019-12-06 19:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18224279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwesomeTrinket/pseuds/AwesomeTrinket
Summary: The Super Smash Tournaments are well known for being a...well, a melting pot of fighters from countless dimensions. A tiny pink blob could battle a trained super spy like it was the most regular thing in the world. Returning brawlers, Camilla and Naomi, were definitely anything but normal - one was from a distant galaxy, another a Chinese vampire. They should fit perfectly, right?





	1. Chapter 1 - Returning Veterans

**Author's Note:**

> (inb4 "OCs get into Smash before Waluigi" jokes)
> 
> SO what is this terrible, terrible thing I have vomited out of my brain at 3 A.M. and on the weekends? Why, ya girl got into Super Smash Bros Brawl and decided "hey, let's throw some of my OCs into the Smash world and see what happens!" Camilla and Naomi are two characters of mine from a YA book I'm working on, called "Daydreamer," hence the Daydream part of the title. I ended up falling in love with them, and before long I got into Brawl. One thing led into another, and now we have an AU where a 17 year old Chinese vampire and a 19 year old Ravinan got into Smash.
> 
> This fic was mostly to try and help me conquer my phobia of writing characters who already have established personalities. My main fear is making them so OOC it's glaringly obvious, so try and go a little easy on me. (...Upon rereading this, I realize that we got nothing of the regular Smash Bros fighters in this chapter. Sorry! They'll be in chapter 2, I swear.)
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 1  
Returning Veterans**

Before her and Camilla's invitation to Brawl, Naomi didn't quite get why there was so much hullabaloo over the whole "Super Smash Bros" thing. After all, you just sat around and fought some people every day, right? Naomi did that on a regular basis, and much cooler as well - she fought _demons_ ; monsters that normal humans couldn't even touch. Good thing she wasn't exactly...human, per say.

When the two of them each got the famous white envelope held shut by the bright red insignia, Camilla was just as confused as Naomi was skeptic. It took her a rather lengthy explanation before the white-haired pilot could even begin to grasp what Super Smash Bros was. It also took the duo 20 minutes to decide whether or not they wanted to accept the invitation or return to their rather hectic daily lives. Camilla insisted that they always had to be on patrol, lest there was an Amber Night Stalker feasting on a planet's worth of souls.

"What if there are Stalkers at where this tournament thingy is being held?" Naomi rebutted, not taking her eyes off the contents of the letter that had been neatly encased inside the envelope.

Camilla threw her hands up into the air. "But if we go and there is not, then the whole thing would be just a big waste of time!"

"Honestly, Camilla, which is worse: wasting some time checking out a false alarm and possibly experiencing that rare thing called fun, or ignoring it and everyone gets slaughtered by untouchable demons?"

Camilla looked angry at first, spouted some nonsense in her first language (out of, what was it now, 26?) East Oclanian, and then begrudgingly agreed in English that Naomi was right.

Truth be told, though, Naomi was kind of curious about the whole thing now. Maybe she was wrong. If this many people went bonkers about it, maybe there was just something that Naomi didn't see about it when just reading the description of this tournament. Besides, space was nice and all, but she and Camilla hadn't gone on any interdimensional travels yet, despite Camilla insisting they would at some point. Multiple universes all colliding just to duke it out with one another sounded _fun_.

It was really easy to brush Super Smash Bros off as just a fad when you're just an observer, but once you get the envelope, things change.

That was how, when Super Smash Bros Brawl rolled around, Naomi found herself in the midst of absolute chaos, but a different chaos than what she was used to. Now, instead of each and every move she made possibly the choice that saved the world from Fatima or dooming everyone, it could be a choice that made her a brand new friend or completely flipped someone out of the battlefield. By the end of their stay's duration, Naomi would honestly be lying if she said that she was still wondering why Smash Bros was fun.

...Of course, all good things had to come to an end. Camilla and Naomi had to leave after a little more than a month; General Melissa needed them and needed them _now_ , Camilla said. After a chat with Master and Crazy Hands, the two of them quietly left; took the Smash Train and boarded their intergalactic traveler to enter the strange world that was beyond the stars. Looking back, Naomi felt bad for the two sentient hands to be the ones who broke the news to the Smash Brawlers. At the very least, Naomi should have worked up some courage and told everyone herself. The only one who Camilla told in person was Samus.

As the ship whirred to life and began to soar far, far away, Naomi couldn't help but watch the scenery get farther and farther from sight until it all blurred into streaks of black and green and white. Truth be told, she was used to it now. She already abandoned one home, and now she was abandoning the next, because honestly, that's the only way Naomi could describe the Smash Mansion - a second home.

Honestly, Naomi would have never expected to see any of their faces again. She had more pressing matters on her hands, anyways, like Amber Night Stalkers and Cassandra... She was out there, and Naomi didn't want to believe otherwise. It wasn't over until the fat lady sang, after all.

_Mom, we had to leave Smash Mansion. General Melissa paged us (You remember her, right? The one I wrote about last time?) and we had to leave ASAP. Hang on. We're still coming for you._

* * *

_Months Later_

Naomi sat down her usual seat, readjusting her helmet. To the left was the pilot's seat - Camilla was the only vaguely-human who had ever sat in there before after Naomi crashed the traveler into one of Dubrion's oceans. She sighed softly, realizing the literal puppy, Cheddar, got more respect and time in the driver's seat than she ever had. She didn't hold a grudge over Camilla, though. It wasn't anything personal. That was one thing no one could ever deny about Camilla: she loved her dog more than anyone else in the multiverses. Naomi couldn't help but chuckle when she remembered the day Camilla first met Cheddar.

It _had_ been quite a funny sight; watching the 6'10" white-haired woman in a skintight blue-and-white thermal suit cradle a tiny golden retriever in her arms as she announced, on the verge of tears, that she had no idea what species this was, but this was Cheddar and he was her new best friend. Since then, Cheddar had been a vital member in their 2-woman 1-dog crew. He didn't really do much, but he _could_ do way more than your average dog. He wasn't the best at co-piloting like Naomi was, but he was getting better.

It was probably said that Naomi could say "yeah, this dog is learning how to co-pilot an intergalactic traveler," like it was the most normal thing in the world. In all honesty, that probably _was_ the most normal thing in her new life.

She shook herself out of her remembrance as a little notification popped up in the corner of her display.

Naomi thought for a second, trying to translate herself into East Oclanian. " _Computer, display notification._ "

She still stuttered a bit and got some pronunciations wrong, but her East Oclanian was rapidly improving, and it got the job done. The computer chirped happily that the duo had mail; two envelopes. Naomi's heart skipped a beat. It was rare that they had mail, and the last time they got two envelopes was...no, it probably wasn't that. There was absolutely _no_ chance of it being that, was there? Besides, it had only been a few months since they left - was it months? Years? Time was a little wobbly in space; time dilation and one day in one planet being a week on Earth, things like that.

A loud growl came from her stomach. _Hungry again..._ That was one of the downsides of being a _jiang-shi_. What Chinese mythology didn't tell you about being this strange vampire/zombie creature - along with many other things - was that they were always, _always_ hungry, from morning 'till the dawn of the new day. During Brawl, Naomi hadn't thought she'd been staying for so long so she didn't bother to pack as many snacks as she usually did. Because of this, she nearly cleaned out the breakfast buffet every day just to curb the painful hungers for an hour or two. Naomi could still remember the looks on people's faces as she returned to her seat with her plate piled high with meats, pancakes and fruits, devoured it all in five minutes, and still went for seconds and thirds.

Camilla groaned and plopped herself down into the pilot's seat.

"What've we got this time, Naomi?" Camilla's hair was cut in a way that it seemed to favor the right side of her face; the length of it flowing down her right shoulder and gradually getting shorter and shorter until, on the left side, it was more of a pixie cut than anything. It was the kind of haircut Naomi would expect a punk to wear and not the most uptight person she ever knew. If it weren't for the white hair and her extreme height, Naomi would think that Camilla was a regular person like she used to be. Ravinans (especially those born in East Oclania) were strikingly similar to humans physically despite being more than three galaxies apart, but they lacked the melanins that colored hair and were _stupid_ tall. Naomi once cringed when she learned that, on her planet Ravina, Camilla was actually shorter than the average of 7'1".

"Mail."

"Mail?" Camilla repeated. "We never get physical mail anymore... not since Brawl, anyway."

"That's what I said. Have a look." Naomi swiped her finger across what looked like empty air at first, but when Camilla brought her display up it sent the notification in front of her eyes. She squinted and her lips moved silently. Behind the two, Naomi heard the telltale squeak that meant Cheddar was up, sitting in his favorite seat, and biting down again on his favorite chew toy. For a puppy who had a lot of "favorites," he didn't seem to mind meeting new people. When she was done, Camilla turned to Naomi and had the same expression on her face that the half-Chinese teenager was currently wearing.

"...Could it be...?"

Naomi shrugged. "Doesn't seem too likely. _Computer, display mail._ "

The computer hummed the East Oclanian translation of "Okay!" Two clean, white envelopes were spat out from a tiny slot in the dashboard, addressed "To: Naomi Liu" and "To: Camilla Swann," respectively, in a clean, typed font. Naomi picked up hers. It felt light in her hand. She turned it over, and she could have sworn she felt the very threads of time grind to a halt around her as she took in the red stamp that every competent fighter in their universe wanted, hoped, _prayed_ , to see every time they got mail.

She was brought back to life by Camilla's voice, which was unlike the loud and brash she was used to; instead taking upon a more soft tone. "...Did we...did we get into Smash again...?"

Both girls let out a breath that neither knew they were holding in. Naomi tore hers open, and out slid a neatly folded letter. As she unfolded it, she started to read aloud, and realized Camilla was doing the same thing. Their voices were perfectly in sync, repeating exactly what the other said just moments ago.

" _...It is with great pleasure that we request your presence at Super Smash Bros Ultimate! Everyone will be there, from newcomers to returning Smash veterans...!"_

They say, in space, no one can hear you scream, but one thing was for sure - the two cheered so loud they spooked Cheddar right out of his seat. As unbelievable as that seemed, that marked the story of how Naomi Liu, 17-year old _jiang-shi_ and Camilla Swann, 19 year old Ravinan, began their journey to the Smash Mansion for the second time in their lives...

_Hey Mom, guess what; we got into Smash again! This one's called Smash Ultimate. I don't know how long it's been since Brawl, but I can't wait. I wonder what you'd say if you saw me now, hooting and hollering when I got my invitation. I miss you._


	2. Chapter 2 - Smashin' Through the Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, we're FINALLY getting some lines from everyone's favorite Smashians. Quick question, who do you guys main, out of curiosity? I still only play Brawl, so I switch between Meta Knight, Snake and Diddy Kong.
> 
> Again: This was mostly a challenge for me to get over my fear of writing characters with already established personalities, so sorry again if someone's a little OOC. I'm really trying here, man...
> 
> Also, I'm usually gonna try and update this once a week, and when I do it'll be over the weekends, so Friday-Sunday are prime times to look for new chapters of this fic!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 2  
Smashin' Through the Snow**

"We all ready to go?" Camilla barked at the younger teen, bags strapped over her shoulder. In her free hand she held Cheddar's leash - the puppy in question patiently sitting in front of the railroad tracks, his tail wagging at such a high frequency Naomi was slightly concerned he would sprain it. He did that before, actually; Camilla had been so worried, and when Naomi finally convinced her to take Cheddar to a vet, it had been revealed, yes, this good boy had gotten so happy he wagged his tail hard enough to sprain it.

Naomi responded with a lazy grin and a raise of her eyebrow. "Bit late to ask, eh?"

"I know you, Naomi! If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even gotten out of bed today!"

"Hey, when a girl's gotta sleep, a girl's gotta sleep." She shrugged. "Look, I even got outta my comfy clothes for this special occasion."

In Naomi defense, it was true - Naomi had actually decided to put on a semi-clean black and white dress instead of her food-stained hoodie and jeans. Though, if she was being completely accurate, she hadn't been able to properly sleep ever since getting her invitation. Naomi had counted down the days to the date of their scheduled arrival (15 days, 12 hours, 9 minutes and 20 seconds, to be exact), and had been constantly unpacking and repacking. She hadn't taken much when leaving her first home, Bridge Creek; just her clothes, a stuffed penguin and a locket. Now, though, her backpack was half-full with her clothes, had Petunia the Penguin poking her head out of the flap, some of her amiibo near the bottom where they'd be padded by her clothes, and the rest was packed to the brim with snacks.

Exactly on time, the gaudy silver-and-red train screeched to a halt in front of the duo. This was definitely their stop; no train had ever ran on these Earth railroad tracks in over seven years now. The doors slid open, and almost immediately Cheddar yapped and hopped up, straining against his leash to try and be the first in. Camilla couldn't help but laugh as she tried to reassure Cheddar it was okay, they'd all be getting in together. The puppy had his fur washed and carefully groomed last night; by Camilla, of course. She didn't trust anyone else to take care of Cheddar.

"Name's Alfonzo. I assume you girls are off to the Smash Mansion?" Someone who Naomi could only describe as a pirate appearance-wise was at the conductor's seat. Camilla tugged Cheddar back to stop him from going to aggressively sniff and then lick this Alfonzo as a way to express his love.

Camilla flashed her invite (Naomi doing the same) before speaking. "Yup. Guess we're not the only ones on the way there, huh?"

"Nope! Tons'a people hopping aboard." Alfonzo laughed. "Just leave it to me!"

Together, Naomi, Camilla and Cheddar advanced on into the train. Naomi's jaw dropped as she realized Alfonzo wasn't kidding - a massive mishmash of people were crowding in the train car, eagerly chatting with one another about how excited they were to be back in Smash and they hadn't seen each other in nearly for-EVER. As the group stepped in, more than one head swiveled up to look at them. Naomi felt her face prickle with heat; the last time all eyes were on her... well, let's just say it wasn't too pretty.

There were cheers from throughout the car, coupled with the joyous cries of "Camilla!" and "Naomi!" This car must have been where all the returning brawlers were in. Cheddar was going nearly insane at their feet; barking in delight with the biggest smile on his face, running around in circles and sniffing everyone he could get close enough to. Once he had determined that the person was worthy of his love (which wasn't hard, you basically just had to exist and that was good enough for him) he'd start licking them wherever he could - the face, arms, hands, you name it.

Camilla took a deep breath, and screamed at the top of her lungs; which, if you were standing right next to her like Naomi, was unbearably loud.

" _SAMUUUUUUUUSSS!_ "

Near the back, someone responded with "CAMILLAAAAAA!"

That was enough for Camilla to take off and start running, Cheddar easily catching up with his best friend. With Naomi left to herself at this point, she decided that it would be best to save her reunions for later and slid on her headphones. It said something about how loud the train was when she had to crank the volume on her MP3 Player to nearly the highest it can go before she could hear half the notes in her music. She advanced on, but not without struggling, mind you; it was near impossible to work her way through the knot of elbows and fists. Something caught on her backpack, and she tugged it away, feeling the wrappers crinkle in there. Oh, her chips were gonna be _so_ broken, weren't they...?

Familiar faces passed by her as she walked, people turning to her and saying things that Naomi couldn't hear; quite frankly, she didn't really care, either. Not that she meant that in a mean way, though. When the call of her stomach starts to sing, she got kinda cranky. And hungry. Very, very hungry. Man, her verdict on whether or not she disliked this whole "needs to eat 24/7" thing really flip-flopped, didn't it?

* * *

Finally, Naomi found an empty table - looked like it could seat four people. She flounced down in a seat near the window and slid her backpack off her shoulders before placing it on the seat next to her to try and save some space for Camilla. Her stomach growled almost like it was angry, and Naomi figured now was as good a time as ever to start snacking. She thought marshmallows would be quiet enough, but as she ripped open the bag of colorful sugar lumps, a blue streak came weaving past everyone like a pinball in the machine and right up to her table.

"...hi, Sonic."

"Naomi! Buddy! Long time no see!" The speedster chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulder.

Naomi just gave him a look. "I dunno what you're talking about with all this buddy-buddy stuff. Remember Brawl?"

Judging by the microexpression that flashed across Sonic's face, he clearly did remember, though he went back to his usual laid-back self soon after. "Yeah, yeah, but the times have changed, y'know? Speaking of things that've changed, what's with all the snacks?"

"Oh, these?" Naomi stuffed a marshmallow into her mouth, before speaking with her mouth full like the kind of gross person she is. "During Brawl I got tired of taking all the buffet food for myself, so I came prepared this time."

"Sounds like you've got a lot to spare then, heh heh heh." Sonic chuckled.

Naomi knew dang well what Sonic was going for. "No."

"Ah, c'mon! Not even _one_ 'mallow?"

Just to be petty, Naomi locked eye contact with Sonic as she shoved another into her mouth. He faked a look of hurt, before sticking his tongue out at her. Naomi kept her deadpan expression as she ate another marshmallow - all while staring him in the eye.

Sonic started going on and on about some subject that Naomi wasn't too sure about, nor did she really care. Despite having large and obvious over-ear headphones on, he didn't seem to notice or care, so Naomi figured she'd might as well play long and let a little "uh-huh" or "oh yeah?" every now and then when she felt like the situation called for it. Apart from that, though, she paid more attention to her music and marshmallows.

_(I'm not asking much, just give me your heeeeart~)_

"Poyo?" A little, high-pitched squeak came from Naomi's left, loud enough that she could hear it over Sonic's motor mouth and her music blasting at the max volume. Naomi slipped her ears out from out of the leather ear pads to see Kirby standing there, looking up at Naomi.

"...Hey, Kirb." Naomi waved a bit. At least Sonic finally shut up at this point.

The tiny pink ball let out another "poyo!" as he pointed at her now half-empty bag of marshmallows.

Why did everyone suddenly want dibs on her food now? As if on instinct, Naomi snapped her head to glance at the marshmallows, then Kirby, back at the marshmallows, then Kirby, then clutched the bag to her chest. "Wh-no! They're mine!"

"Poyo..." Kirby stared up at Naomi, his eyes widening and glistening with...tears?

"...Alright, alright, here's _a_ marshmallow!" Naomi spluttered as she pulled one out of the bag. "Just - don't pull those puppy eyes on me again!"

This seemed to make Kirby perk up again again as he literally inhaled it. Naomi turned back to Sonic, who seemed offended. He opened his mouth to say something.

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Sonic. No." Naomi shook her head as she wagged a finger.

"B-"

"Nope."

"Na-"

"Uh-uh."

"You-"

"Because Kirb is painfully cute and I hate seeing him sad."

Sonic crossed his arms. "So I'm not cute?"

"Well, I wouldn't quite say 'not cute' but...no. No you're not." Naomi ended this sentence by eating another marshmallow in front of him.

"Ouch." It took Sonic a second. "...Hey, that was my thing you just did!"

Naomi played dumb. "What thing?"

"The finger thing!"

"Oh, you mean this?" Naomi did it again to him.

"You know exactly what I mean!"

Now Naomi was laughing hard enough she had to pause her current motions of stuffing her face with marshmallows. "No, really, elaborate, why exactly is it yours?"

"Because I did it first!" Sonic threw his hands up into the air. _Maaaaaan, I forgot how easy it is to rile this guy up._ Before she could have any more fun with him, he huffed and sped off.

Camilla's voice cut into her laughter. "...Yup, that's Naomi in a nutshell."

"Teens will be teens." Another voice - this one extremely familiar to Naomi - joined in. Naomi looked it up to see Camilla and Samus (without the suit on) standing together, grinning ear-to-ear. Come to think of it, Samus actually reminded her a lot of Camilla. Her blonde hair was tied up tightly into a ponytail, and she had a rather relaxed grin on her face.

"Samus, hey!" Naomi always liked Samus. She and Camilla had been best friends right from the start, having shared so much in common with each other; what with the whole space thing and all.

"Naomi!" Samus waved. "Good to see you two back."

"Good to _be_ back." That wasn't a lie; if General Melissa hadn't been "a Ravinan buttface," in Naomi's words, she would've liked to stay for longer.

Samus laughed, and sat down on the other side. Naomi pulled her backpack onto her lap for Camilla to sit on her saved seat. She promptly did so, Cheddar leaping on her lap. His fur was a little ruffled; obviously he'd just gone through the petting of a dog's lifetime. The pup had such a big smile on his face and his tail whipped back and forth with such ferocity.

"So what's new with you two?"

Naomi shrugged. "Not much. Visited the planet of demon hobos last week because there was a big riot going on for some reason. What about you?"

Samus had a look on her face. "...Nothing new to report either."

Camilla leaned over to Naomi and whispered "Other M." Naomi nodded in understanding. As if on cue, Sonic zoomed past them again, yelling "THEBABY" at Samus. She turned to Sonic (rather, where his afterimage was) and just... stared, with a blank look on her face and only a tinge of internal screaming.

The two space women lost themselves in a conversation about why gunblades (the weapon that all Ravinans in the military were issued) were the most superior weapon anyone could wield or not. Camilla was in favor of it because the rifle part of the gunblade was perfect for long-distance, and the long blade attached to the bottom of the gun's barrel meant that, if enemies got too close, she could slice at their weak points. Why Samus was opposed to it, Naomi didn't catch.

Naomi slipped her headphones back on and turned the music up again, sliding her arms and elbows onto the table as she stared out the window. With her music on, the chatter that once exploded in Naomi's eardrums became an almost comforting white noise, and the bumps and nudges of the train on the tracks were oddly soothing. Bag of marshmallows finished, she stuffed the empty bag in her backpack and returned to resting her head in her arms. Why did she feel so tired all of a sudden...? It'd only been, what, half an hour since boarding? Try as she might, Naomi couldn't keep her eyes open and, soon enough, found herself drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

_Hey Mom, did I ever write about Samus? She looks like if Camilla had a little sister, even if Samus is older. I should introduce you both sometime when I find you._

* * *

Naomi was jolted awake from her sleep with a hard slap on the back from Camilla.

"Hey!" Naomi snorted, taking her face out of her arms. "Not cool, dude-"

"You lazy vampire, we're here!" Camilla shoved her again as she tried to blink the sleepiness out of her eyes. A heavy yawn escaped from her throat as she looked around. Indeed, the train had ground to a halt and the doors hissed open. A bottleneck formed for the first few seconds, but soon enough people were getting through. Samus stood up and stretched, her shoulder popping a little.

"Well, sounds like this is our stop." She chuckled.

"Right!" Camilla stood up quickly as Cheddar hopped off her lap. "Come on, Naomi, Sammy; the luggage is in the fourth car!"

Naomi glanced at Samus. "So you're Sammy now, huh?"

Her quizzical response went unheard as the two went off to the back of the train. Naomi had somehow picked up from Sonic that there were four cars in the train - the returning veterans, the newcomers (where some veterans also hung out in when the first car got too crowded), a dining area, and way in the back was for the luggage.

Camilla wasn't like Naomi, in that when she wanted to get somewhere, there was no silently weaving through the crowds or any gentle nudges. Her method was more along the lines of "MOVE IT OR YOU MAY POSSIBLY GET TRAMPLED BY THE BEHEMOTH," which, in her defense, _did_ work. It worked with the first encounter of Naomi, after all.

People _leaped_ out of the way when Camilla came barrelling through, waving her arms and shouting "Comin' through, humans! Comin' through!" Samus followed closely behind her, though she was just a bit more polite than her white-haired friend. It took a bit, but eventually the two managed to work their way into the storage room. It was much quieter than the rest of the train, and for the record they were mostly alone, save for a few fighters gathering up their suitcases and bits and pieces of luggage.

One thing Samus noticed first off was how chilly the room was. "Did you really have to do the running thing?"

"It got the job done, didn't it?" Camilla hummed, letting go of Cheddar's leash. "Could you be a dear and find my suitcase, Cheddar?"

Cheddar, being unable to speak English, simply barked in response and ran off.

"Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess." Samus shrugged, before wandering off to find her own luggage.

Cheddar began to bark repeatedly, jumping up and down from his spot. Camilla hurried to her best friend, only to realize he hadn't even come close to her suitcase, instead barking at...a cardboard box? The box had "Smash Bros" written on one side of it, with the logo stamped next to the writing. He was running laps around it, stopping every second or so to sniff it, before resuming his jumping and yapping.

"What is it, boy?" Camilla seemed curious now as to why Cheddar seemed so excited over this cardboard box in particular. Cheddar stopped only to look at her before barking again. Okay, now Camilla was _really_ curious. He never barked about boxes before, so maybe he'd found some sort of treat or chew toy underneath it. Camilla shrugged and figured why not, before lifting the box up.

Naomi would have followed them if she had more luggage than just her backpack. She slung one strap over her shoulder and stood up, gently pushing her way past people as she mumbled "'scuse me, pardon me, oh my bad." Naomi kept her grip on her invitation tight, curling her fingers around the envelope. She wasn't too sure if she would have to show someone her invitation later, but nevertheless stepped out into the sunlight after calling a "bye Alfonzo and thanks again" behind her shoulder.

Naomi looked back only when a loud " _BWHANG!_ " rang from the cargo room, but figured Camilla had it under control. That Ravinan could take down anything if it tried to harm Cheddar. Reminded her of that one time in Brawl that Wario was bullying Cheddar by holding up his squeaky toy _just_ above his head and mocking him for not being able to get it. Camilla responded by firing a bullet from her gunblade when she was at the other side of the massive room, where the bullet had buried itself in the drywall just an inch above his head. When the room understandably grew silent, she shouted "HEY, YOU WANNA PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN EXTRA-LARGE SIZE INSTEAD OF AN INNOCENT PUPPY, WARIO?!"

She turned back, and to say she was awed would be an understatement. The style of the mansion itself looked like it was built sometime during the Victorian era, yet was still kept pristine and perfect. The lawn was neatly trimmed, each blade of grass the exact same height. Some of the younger fighters were playing on the grass together, laughing and running to and fro. Naomi had seen the Smash Mansion before, but to be back filled her heart with...determination? Hope? No, more like joy.

...Wait, why did her backpack feel so light all of a sudden? Naomi zipped it open and started to rummage through. Okay, Petunia was still there, as was all her clothes, but... She hadn't noticed it earlier, but come to think of it -

" _SONIC!_ " Naomi howled. Stupid speedy blue hedgehog stole her snacks when he sped off, didn't he? It was probably when he yelled "THEBABY" at Samus. That was _it,_ that was _so it._ He was so gonna get it now.


	3. Chapter 3 - Vampire Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> otacon writes fanfiction and no one can convince me otherwise
> 
> I started working on Chapter 3 after I posted C1, and WOW, I did not expect so much positive feedback! I was kinda expecting to get maybe a few views, a couple of favorites, but instead, here we are! If I haven't mentioned it yet, thank you all so much for the likes, follows and reviews! It means a lot to me! How do you guys like Camilla and Naomi so far? I've got them, like, 99% fleshed out and I only have a few minor things to tweak at this point; not just in Ultimate Daydream but in their home novel, Daydreamer.
> 
> I'm starting to think I'm doing pretty good with the Smashians so far. I'm having my friend look over the dialogue to make sure I'm doing it right, and I really appreciate him for doing that. I'll stop jabbering now and get on with it, but if you like this fic, why not leave a like and review on the chapters you like? Thanks again!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 3  
Vampire Problems**

"Camilla? Returning veteran Camilla Swann?" A voice squeaked from the overhead intercom. "Please come to the receptionist desk to be checked in to Smash Hotel."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "You gonna correct that?"

"You're dang right I am!" Camilla huffed. That was a huge pet peeve of hers, people mispronouncing her name. Naomi got it wrong the first time she met Camilla, and in return she got a five minute lecture that no, it was pronounced _Kuh-mee-yah_ , like slapping "Ca" in front of the name Mia. Camilla broke away from Samus at this point, Cheddar's leash in one hand and her suitcase in another, standing up and heading to the other side of the lobby. The mansion had been converted into a hotel at this point, due to all the newcomers and visitors. Parts of the building had been renovated, and new areas added in as well, including a pool that hadn't been there in Brawl.

Cheddar yapped and started jumping up and down, tugging against Camilla's leash. Camilla stopped at this point, kneeling down to the puppy.

"Aww, what's wrong, Cheddar? Nervous? You miss Naomi?" Camilla cooed, scratching under one of his floppy ears.

Cheddar barked again, and judging by how his tail was wagging he seemed more excited than anything else. Camilla couldn't help but crack a smile. She really did love her dog, more than anyone else - he was always so kind and sweet to her and could always make her feel better whenever she was down. Cheddar was definitely part of her family, right next to Maximus and Naomi (though she would never tell either of them how much she cared about them; that's just not how Camilla works). Camilla looked up when the person running the intercom repeated herself for Camilla - still saying her name wrong - to come up to the receptionist desk.

Any lingering irritation about her name being pronounced wrong vanished as soon as Camilla got a look at the receptionist. She was a tiny humanoid dog standing on a footstool to raise her height up _just_ enough to poke her head and little arms over the desk; her fur a bright yellow, the same as Cheddar's. She had on a green vest, coupled with a blue skirt and a tiny tuft of her hair tied up with a red rubber band. She looked so harmless and precious. Camilla was hit by the very strong urge to pet her. Cheddar, meanwhile, looked extremely happy to find someone who was similar to him.

"Camilla Swann, right?" The dog hummed. Her voice, in Camilla's professional opinion, was absolutely adorable. "I'm Isabelle! Invitation, please."

Camilla slid her invitation across the table. Isabelle picked it up and combed through it. After a couple of seconds, she returned it to Camilla with a big smile on her face.

"Great to see you back!" Isabelle beamed. "You know, I'm also in this tournament too! I'm a newcomer! Honestly, I had NO idea they wanted me in Smash, so this is a big surprise for me!"

Camilla's urge to pet her became stronger. "D'aww, really?"

"Yup!" Isabelle flipped through a binder. "You're coming with a Naomi Liu, right?"

"Yeah, but she's...kinda busy right now." Camilla motioned for her to look out the closest window. Isabelle did and was met with Naomi rapidly kicking Sonic in the shin to try and get him to let go of her food. The hedgehog mostly sped away from each attack, but a few landed. Nevertheless he gritted his teeth and kept his grip on the candy bars, granola bars and whatnot tight. Judging from how much their lips were moving and the sounds coming out of them, they were also yelling at each other.

"At least my author actually KNOWS what to do with me and doesn't just stick me in fanfiction!"  
"Oh yeah, Sonic? Well at least _IIIIII_ haven't been CGI'd into a literal monstrosity for a movie that's supposedly about me but is more of a cop drama than anything!"  
"Wh- hey! I didn't agree to that rewrite!"  
"Well I didn't agree to this fanfiction, yet here we are!"

Isabelle slowly nodded. "...I see. No matter! Your invitation looks legit, which means I can check you in!"

"Great!" Camilla hummed, kneeling down again to pet Cheddar once more, who appreciated the love. Isabelle started going on about, if she liked, she could be paired up with another roommate and they would share a room together - only one, though; according to Master Hand, the last time they allowed up to four people in one room, Sonic and Snake got into a _huge_ fight and Sonic... well, he Sonic'd the room, shall we say. Camilla laughed, remembering that day. It was...what? A week or two before they left?

Isabelle tapped away on a computer, before a smile grew across her face. "O-kay! Camilla Swann, you are officially in the system! Your room's 425. Here's your key!"

She held out a tiny plastic card emblazoned with the famous Super Smash Bros logo to Camilla, who took it before chuckling and making a comment that this dimension was still using the chip system. Isabelle cocked her head, confusion written all over her face. Before Camilla could get into what she meant, though, Naomi came stumbling in through the double doors. Her hair had been ripped out of its side ponytail and now flowed down her back; dirt and scratches on her face and talisman crooked. Nevertheless, she looked calm, and held an opened king-sized Snickers bar, which was half eaten. She raised the bar in the air.

"The shushtenance hash been shaved!" Naomi triumphantly crowed in Camilla's general direction, mouth still full of the sweet combination of peanut butter and chocolate, before lowering her arm again and taking another bite.

"Oh, that's our Naomi Liu?" Isabelle chirped. "Right on time! I was going to call for her anyway!"

"Well, I'll leave you to that. Thank you again, Isabelle!" Camilla started to pet her. "Who's a good girl, who's a good girl? It's you! Yes you are!"

Isabelle blushed and giggled, her day having been brightened up by being called the good girl. Some things about dogs always stayed the same, whether they were humanoid and bipedal or four-legged friends.

Camilla started to head off for her room, taking Cheddar with her, as Naomi weaved through the lobby. On the way, she encountered quite a few people who recognized her, though there were _way_ more newcomers than she would've expected. Did she miss a Smash tournament or something...? Some of them looked kinda familiar. Camilla would have to ask Naomi about them later. She had figurines of some of the people she brawled with; called them "amiibo" or something like that.

"Naomi? Returning veteran Naomi Liu? Please come to the receptionist desk to be checked in to Smash Hotel."

...She still didn't correct Isabelle's pronunciation of her name, but frankly, she didn't care when it was Isabelle.

* * *

_Hey Mom; have I ever mentioned that I still hate meeting lots of new people? I guess some parts of me never change._

_I miss you._

They were right when they said "Everyone's here!" Everyone was here. _Everyone_. Faces that Naomi had grown to love, people who were in the Smash tournaments before the duo (but skipped Brawl), and countless newcomers. Going around and introducing herself was gonna be...well, a doozy. Naomi hadn't had a chance to go upstairs to her room yet, so she figured she might as well walk around and introduce herself, find some old friends. But there was _no_ chance of her ever looking forward to talking to that many people.

Camilla returned downstairs with just Cheddar attached to his leash this time, stepping into the breakfast buffet area. It wouldn't be open for another 15 or 18 hours, but it was just where everyone conglomerated to go catch up. Oh, thank the stars for Camilla. That was...a pretty weird thought, considering Naomi's rough start with Camilla. If she went back 2 and a half years into the past and told herself back then that Camilla would become essentially her "familiar," she was pretty sure past-Naomi would have slapped present-Naomi in the face and yelled at her to go away, crazy. Naomi started to make her way over to her, though she was quickly cut off by two people calling Camilla's name. She turned, and her face lit up at the sight of the two.

"Falco! Fox!" Camilla cheered, and off she went again. Naomi sighed. Camilla went from being glued to one friend to being glued to two others, all within the course of ten minutes. Camilla got along really well with anyone space-related. Go figure, Naomi guessed; considering how her general attitude towards Naomi during their first few meetings was 'Earth sucks and space is cool, let's go ride off into the stars and save the rest of the superior UNIVERSE!'

"Camilla!" Fox chuckled, waving his arm like he was trying to flag a taxi or something. "I didn't expect you to be here. Where's your friend Naomi?"

Camilla took a seat with the two Star Fox crew members. "Oh, she's off introducing herself to the newcomers. Lemme tell you, I am SO not looking forward to doing my round of introductions."

This got a laugh out of the two, Falco laughing harder than Fox. This brought Camilla's attention to him.

"So, Falco, you finally get to take off your plane's training wheels?" Camilla raised an eyebrow. "If you keep this up, you'll catch up to my level in the next...oh, I'd say 10 or 12 years."

This caught the bird off-guard. "-I'll have you know that I'm still the best pilot in Star Fox!"

" _Really?_ I kinda doubt that." Camilla had a cheesy grin on her face at this point. Today was probably the first day in ages Naomi had seen her relax like this. "Remember our little bet in Brawl?"

"B - wh - That was cheating!" Falco was definitely at the very least a little offended over the matter. "Your jet had _light speed_ travel and _inter-dimensional_ warping, for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, but it takes a skilled pilot to operate either of those." Camilla threw her head back and laughed. "You know, you're lucky jets and intergalactic travelers are banned this time."

"I still can't believe you two single-handedly got recreational aircraft banned from Smash..." Fox shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Camilla just innocently shrugged. "Wasn't _my_ fault."

"...Actually, if I recall correctly, you're the one who didn't make the turn in time and -" Falco was quickly cut off by Camilla clamping a hand (covered in a blue-and-white glove) over his beak.

"Wwweeeee don't talk about that, ahaha...!" There was a bit of an almost nervous edge to her voice at this, but nevertheless she kept the same lighthearted ribbing tone.

Naomi just...kinda watched the three from afar until she felt too awkward to do so any longer. To alleviate this weird feeling in her gut, she finished off her granola bar (mm, white chocolate drizzle) and decided to look for a newcomer. Newcomers she was cool with only if she talked to one or two at a time. Repeating "hi I'm Naomi Liu I'm a jiang-shi" to five or more people right next to each other didn't seem too appealing to her.

Looking around, there was no one in particular that she really wanted to go up to. She was starting to think that coming down to talk to people was a very bad idea. Something caught her eye, and she turned to see a young man, perhaps about 19 or so, looking around with an absolutely bewildered expression on his face. _This should be kind of interesting,_ Naomi thought as she made her way over to try and help him out.

"Hey. Something wrong?" Naomi asked.

He looked startled, and then turned to her. His hair was brunette and cut short, and he dressed in a similar color scheme to Camilla, with a blue coat (the sleeves torn off) on top of a white shirt. "Yes, I would like to know what magic powered our method of transportation earlier. It does not seem familiar..."

Well, someone thinking trains were magic wasn't the weirdest thing Naomi had seen this week alone. "The Smash Train?"

"...I believe that's what it's called."

"Well, they're powered - they're - uhhhhh - oh, how do I explain this?" Naomi struggled to figure out a way to explain it in a way that wouldn't go over his head; judging by the dialect, way of dress and not knowing what trains are, she would guess this guy was from around the 18th century. Did they even have trains in the 18th century, or is that the 19th century she's thinking about? Oh, this much thinking was making her brain hurt. As Cassandra used to jokingly say, _'Thinking gives you wrinkles.'_ Eventually, she settled with an explanation that seemed to cover the gist of it and still somewhat made sense.

It seemed to work for this guy, judging by the lack of a look of confusion on his face. "Amazing...!"

"I know, right?" Naomi chuckled. "Haven't seen you here before, by the way. You a newcomer to Smash or something?"

"Yes, this is my first tournament."

"Cool. I came back from Brawl, so I guess I'm a veteran." Naomi extended a hand. "I'm Naomi."

He took it. "And I am Richter."

"Nice to meet you, Richter." Naomi couldn't help but wonder what universe he was from. He'd probably be floored by all the tech Camilla had, if he was this amazed by trains.

Richter suddenly laughed as his eyes swept over Naomi's face. "What kinds of evil would someone like you need protection from?"

"Huh - oh, this thing?" Naomi touched the talisman on her forehead. The ink was manufactured by East Oclanians so it was like it was still fresh. On it was a phrase written also in East Oclanian, which translated to something along the lines of _'With this, the gift shall not be overtaken by her curse.'_

"Talismans like those are usually reserved for good luck or to ward off evil spirits!"

Now it was Naomi's turn to laugh. "Honestly, it's more for _your_ protection and everyone else's. Keeps me from losing control in my hunger spats and eating everyone's souls."

She was used to getting shocked silence after casually making such a declaration, so she didn't think anything of it and continued on. "Yeah, I'm a _jiang-shi._ Chinese vampiiiieeEEEEEEYAAAAAARRRGH-"

Naomi narrowly ducked as Richter hurled an axe at where her head had been just seconds before. Another went flying at her soon after, and she twisted to try and dodge this one too.

" _Die, monster! You don't belong in this world!_ " Richter snarled.

It was probably the soul-eating thing, wasn't it...?

* * *

_I'm starting to think I need to change my introductions, Mom. You'll never guess Richter's occupation._

Two minutes later, she found herself in an upper corner in the ceiling, using three limbs like Spider Man to try and keep herself up and the one arm she didn't use to try and block the axes to the face. She couldn't remember whether or not she used her wings to get up there, and frankly she didn't care. At some point, someone else joined in on the axe/holy water hurling, which turned out to be THE Simon Belmont; of course he was here, whoopdy-doo. She figured that now would probably be the worst time to tell them that axes were actually a weakness of hers, so could they please stop.

"Now, die, unholy demon of the night!" Simon chucked another axe at her.

"I - _ow!_ \- told you that - _ow!_ \- I'm not really a - _ow!_ \- a vampire! I'm more of - EYAAAARGH - a zombie than anything!" Naomi hissed, pressing her arm against her face as a bottle of holy water was thrown at her. "...Okay, that one didn't help my case, but - _CAMILLAAAAAAAAAAAA-_ "

It was at this point Camilla came rocketing in like a missile straight out of the launcher, gunblade over her shoulder. "Naomi, what on Ravina- hey!"

"This Richter guy just - _ow!_ \- started going nuts on me after I told him I was a - [splutter] - a _jiang-shi_ and then - _I SAID CEASE -_ Simon Belmont here started to join in on the axes!"

Trailing behind Camilla was Samus, who, upon seeing the commotion, buried her face in one hand. "That's Richter Belmont, Naomi! He's a descendant of Simon!"

"And no one - _ow!_ \- thought to tell me this beforehand?!" Naomi shouted back. "You know, like a 'Hey, head's up - _ow!_ \- you're gonna be fighting with two - _yowza!_ \- vampire hunters, Naomi Liu, O'Great Last - _ow!_ \- _Jiang-shi_ in the Universe?!'"

She blinked. "...Actually, come to - _DANG IT SIMON I'M TRYING TO THINK HERE -_ to think of it, how are two - _oof!_ \- descendants of Belmonts fighting - _ow!_ \- in the same time period?"

"Don't think about it too hard, Naomi!" Samus hollered back.

Camilla, meanwhile, proceeded to slide in front of the Belmonts, arms extended, in a futile attempt to block the arc of the axes that were being thrown at Naomi. "Hey, hey, _hey!_ Stop that!"

"Out of the way, madam!" Simon grunted in response.

"Don't you 'madam' your way out of this! _She's not an evil vampire!_ " Camilla yelled back. By now, people were staring. This reminded Naomi of the very first time she met Camilla; how she had the shrill tone in her voice and people turning to watch her admittedly bizarre situation. "I dunno what beef you've got with vampires in your world, but in mine, the dominant species in our galaxies could be called that! _This one_ -"

Here she pointed at Naomi, who now had slashes and bruises all over her arms and legs.

" - is our last hope against Queen Fatima!"

Naomi was hit on the arm by another bottle of holy water. Ugh, they were ruining her really nice dress. She actually _liked_ it, and now look - it was torn and soaked with holy water. These two were gonna be the death of her one day, weren't they? Despite Camilla's efforts (one of them literally trying to pick up Richter and carry him away from the situation; which...failed, to say the least), they continued to throw axes at poor Naomi. Honestly, Naomi would have believed they would've tried to get her down from the ceiling to kill her with axes all night had she not been saved by a floating, omnipotent hand half a minute later.

Oh, boy, people were staring now. Reminded Naomi again of the very first time she met Camilla. This was depressing.

" _That is enough, Belmonts._ " Master Hand rumbled.

Richter and Simon - _halle-frickin-lujah_ \- paused, mid-throw, though mostly in shock.

The hand continued. Naomi was never too sure how it managed to audibly speak, being, you know, a hand and all, but she had never been so grateful for it before. " _In her world, Naomi Liu is a protagonist, as is Camilla Swann. You will not try to kill her or anyone else off the stage, even if you two are vampire hunters._ "

It _actually_ worked. The two, though reluctantly, lowered their axes, and Naomi dropped down from the ceiling. People were still staring, and the room was mostly silent.

"...ANY-way, hi newcomers, hi veterans. I'm Naomi Liu, your resident _jiang-shi_ , and I really need a nap." With that, Naomi decided to plod off to her room. One thing was for sure: that was certainly one way to start off her first day at Smash Ultimate.

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
Snake's Codec about Camilla**

-bipbip-

 **Snake:** Otacon, I need all the info you've got on this girl. She's huge.  
**Otacon:**...It's like she's from an anime...!  
**Snake:** Otacon!  
**Otacon:** Right, right, info.  
**Otacon:** A-anyway, that's Camilla Swann. She's from a distant galaxy and was born in a planet called Ravina.  
**Snake:** Ravina?  
**Otacon:** Yes, Snake. They're most known for their white hair, extreme height and advanced technology.  
**Otacon:** They say Ravinan tech is centuries beyond ours!  
**Snake:** What about her fighting style?  
**Otacon:** Camilla herself is pretty arrogant and cocky, but she's really fast, too; so don't let your guard down.  
**Otacon:** You need to watch out for that gunblade she's carrying. It's good for long- and short-distance attacks.  
**Snake:** Hrrngh. So I'll have to keep an eye out for that.  
**Camilla:** Y'know, for a race all about chivalry, you two don't know that it's rude to talk about a lady in front of her.  
**Snake:** Wh- how'd you -  
**Camilla:** Get into your Codec? Like Otacon here said, we Ravinans have our tech.  
**Camilla:** Also, you should probably make a footnote on your record about me that my name's pronounced " _Kuh-mee-yah._ "  
**Snake:**...That's what you're worried about?  
**Camilla:** Yep! You don't understand how peeved I get about this stuff.  
**Camilla:** Oh, Otacon, if it helps any, I do, in fact, speak Japanese too. Take that as you will.  
-bew-


	4. Chapter Four - Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys: [breathes on this fic]  
> Me: I LOVE YOU ALL LIKE CHEDDAR LOVES EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS AND ALSO EVERYTHING THAT DOESN'T-
> 
> I KNOW Snake would have some issue with Naomi Liu at first because of Naomi Hunter - I'm only at Twin Snakes right now and I've just finished both the Meryl and the Otacon ending - but I can't figure out a way to mention it at some point in this thing. I had it in Snake's original scene in Ch2 but then I rewrote it to the box thing! Anyway, as I write this, it's the start of my spring break (first week of April, buddy!), so I should be able to get some more time in to write more Ultimate Daydream!
> 
> If you like fic so far, why not give it a like and a follow, or even review the chapters you like particularly? I would REALLY appreciate it if you did! Thanks again!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter Four  
Reunion**

There were probably a million ways for Naomi to wake up to her second day of Smash Mansion that was better than Camilla literally kicking her off of her bed, letting her body hit the ground with a loud  _thump_.

"-  _Camilla!_ " Naomi snorted, flipping hair away from her face.

Camilla stood with her arms crossed. "You've been asleep for almost twenty hours, you lazy vampire!"

A happy bark came from somewhere in the room, as it took Naomi a second to process Camilla's statement. Usually, it was impossible for Naomi to sleep unless she could see the stars; she'd been like that ever since she took on this great quest to make sure Fatima never hurts anyone ever again with her Stalkers.

"...I've been asleep since - "

"Yes, since Richter and Simon." Camilla huffed, turning away from Naomi. "You missed all your introductions with the newcomers, so you're gonna have to deal with that today. And you're lucky I came to wake you up; another hour or two of your slumber and you would've missed breakfast!"

"Breakfast?" This woke Naomi up faster than anything else Camilla could have pulled on her. Man, she was  _really_  craving some chocolate chip pancakes right now. Before the Smash Ultimate invitation, Naomi couldn't remember the last time she had chocolate (Camilla being just a tad overprotective of Cheddar), so she had taken the opportunity to stock up. "Al-right! Let's get some food!"

Cheddar yapped in delight, before picking up his squeaky toy with his mouth. The bright blue rubber bone was worn from countless hours of Cheddar playing with it, but still held up to the tests of time and a dog's jaw. The good boy sat down nearby the door of their hotel room, tail wagging as he started to patiently wait for his two best friends. This got a "d'aww" out of Camilla, her tough exterior cracking, as she knelt down to rub the top of Cheddar's head, not looking away from the puppy as she told Naomi to get changed and that she'd better see her downstairs in ten minutes.

It was around now that Naomi realized that Camilla wasn't in her usual blue-and-white skintight suit; instead opting for the pink-and-cream one this time. She never wore this one...

"Speaking of clothes, what's with the wardrobe change?" Naomi reached for her backpack, where she had unceremoniously dropped it near the foot of her bed last night.

"Oh, you noticed, huh?" Camilla grinned. "This is my 'saving the world in style' suit; you know that."

"Yeah, but we're not saving the world today, I hope." She unzipped it, sticking her arm straight down past her snacking materials.

This got a laugh out of Camilla. Apart from the way she woke Naomi up, the Ravinan seemed to be in a pretty good mood today. "I know, I know, but you know how stylish this one is. I  _do_  want to look good while whooping the butts of everyone. After all, if Brawl was huge, imagine the audience at Ultimate!"

Yup, there was the Camilla that Naomi knew and...liked? Loved? Tolerated? She wasn't too sure. Camilla was also one of those fighters who acted like her life was over if her tier dropped down one ranking. That was how Smash worked; during the week, each player would cycle through the list of fighters so they're guaranteed to fight them all at least once. The list of who fights who was determined every day, but at the end of the week a tier list would be posted up so fighters could see how well they ranked. Of course, the winner of each battle would get a considerable sum of gold at the end of it; another motivator, this time for the more greedy fighters.

Naomi had been comfortable with her C-ranks during Brawl, but Camilla tried desperately to move to a rank higher than B+. Honestly, Naomi believed that Camilla would've gotten at least to the high A-ranks, if not even S-ranks, if it hadn't been for a certain brawler:  _Meta Knight._  No one had stood a chance against him. The whole 'meta' in Brawl was who could survive longer against Meta Knight, in which you had to be fast, lightweight, have a longer sword than him (which for some weird reason wasn't possible), and some decent air-game. Considering how Naomi hadn't been the fastest and having a massive shiruken for a weapon weighed her down, there wasn't a chance of her getting past C even if she wanted to.

"And here we see the  _Camilus Ravinus_ , counting her chickens before they hatch again. Who knows, maybe the meta this time directly hurts fast-paced long-distance fighters. Remember Ganondorf in Brawl?" Naomi chuckled. "Poor dude didn't stand a chance."

"I know. It was a pity; he was so disappointed about it." Camilla shook her head, before standing up. "Anyway! I'm going to take Cheddar downstairs for food. After his daily walk, he's bound to be hungry. Isn't that right, boy, aren't you hungry for some yummy treats?"

Cheddar barked in response.

Camilla opened the door as Naomi pulled out her new outfit of the day. "And don't even think about wearing those so-called 'comfy clothes!'"

Naomi put away her new outfit of the day and went to look for another. She needed coffee. And food.

* * *

_Hey Mom, did I ever mention I hate Camilla sometimes?_

Naomi had a headache. That was the only way to describe it. First Camilla walked way off ahead of her, and then the newcomers were all like "heyyyy, Naomi, the one Simon and Richter were hurling axes at, right," and then came Sonic. Oh, Sonic, Sonic, Sonic.

"Naomi! Really cool introduction you had last night. Say, you got anything good in that pack of yours to go with your breakfast, like, I dunno, a chili dog?" He grinned and gave her finger-guns, his pace matching hers.

Naomi started walking faster to get ahead of him. "Please do not speak to the  _jiang-shi_  until she has had her coffee."

"Aw, come on, Naomi-"

" _Please do not speak to the jiang-shi until she has had her coffee._ " This time, she seemed to have put in enough of an oomph behind her words that made Sonic realize that if he kept jabbering she would most likely do something drastic. Like punch him. Or eat him. They just plodded along together in a silence that wasn't awkward, but at the same time it wasn't exactly...comfortable.

Thankfully, the silence was broken once they got into the dining hall. Sonic whooped and speed off, while Naomi took a second to glance over the general environment. On one end of the room was a table filled with plates piled high with food. There were a few waffle irons with pre-made batter nearby, along with some different cereals and fruits. The room itself was halfway full with fighters getting in a somewhat late breakfast, Kirby being one of them. At the end of the table was - oh hallelujah - a coffee pot, halfway full and with a bunch of sugar and cream packets nearby.

It took Naomi two cups of coffee and half of a third before she even felt like socializing again. She looked at the buffet table as she sipped her coffee, pouring some batter into a waffle iron as she spooned some scrambled eggs onto her plate. How many waffles did she want this time...? Judging by how her stomach was complaining, maybe five or six would be a good place to start. And there was the whole issue of who to sit with. She'd had enough sitting alone for a lifetime, back at school after, well, the  _thing;_ y'know, the thing she didn't like to think about.

But then again, she was really not in the mood to sit with Camilla. The pilot in question was sitting with Samus and Solid Snake, and it looked like they were in an in-depth discussion as to why Cheddar was very pure; knowing Camilla, though, she was just going on a rant about how much she loved her dog while Snake tuned her right out and Samus at least tried to feign extended interest. Naomi would just get roped in, and probably chastised for devouring so much in so little time. No thank  _you_.

...Speaking of Cheddar, the extremely loud yowl nearby caused Naomi to jump and nearly drop her freshly made waffle. Turning around, she saw a large black-and-red cat humanoid standing on a table trembling at the sight of Cheddar, who was sitting with his head cocked in confusion and his tail wagging. He barked a few times, which seemed to cause even more terror in the cat. Oh, what was his name again? Incinerate? She knew it was something that started with 'Incine,' but couldn't remember what. Cheddar jumped up and down, trying to get to the big fluff-ball to give him love, but he still acted like Cheddar was trying to eat him. Naomi had to stifle a laugh at the thought of the tiny pup who had never so much as growled at anyone in his short life trying to bite someone at least a hundred times his size.

As if on cue, Isabelle came running up to Cheddar's side, yapping something at him. Apparently she could talk to Cheddar through bark language, that was something new. The two barked at each other back and forth for a minute; the large cat not once taking his eyes off of them like he was afraid they would bite him. Cheddar trotted off, and Isabelle turned to the cat.

"Oh, it's okay, Incineroar; he's just friendly to everyone!" Isabelle chirped.  _Incineroar, that's it._  "I let him know about the whole cat-and-dog thing!"

Incineroar growled under his breath, burying his face into one claw.

"No problem!" With that, Isabelle went her own way as Incineroar finally got down from the table. Naomi turned back to Camilla to see her reaction. Camilla called Cheddar over in East Oclanian, gently clapping her hands to get his attention. The puppy's face lit up into a big smile and he ran over in leaps and bounds to see his best friend and her friends. Snake noticed the ring on her left hand and asked something about it. Camilla looked up at him as Cheddar came rocketing into her arms like a furry missile of love and said she finally had to invoke her marriage pact with her best friend Maximus so she wouldn't get into the so-called Partner Algorithm that Ravina had. Naomi never really got all the details about why they had that. Something about an under-population problem a long time ago?

Someone zoomed up to Naomi's side. "Is it safe yet, or are you gonna chew my face off?"

"You're safe, Sonic." Naomi reassured.

"You still didn't answer my question earlier."

Naomi turned to look at him. "Even if I had chili dogs in there, I'm not giving them to you."

This she punctuated with a considerably sassy sip of her coffee.

"Ouch." Sonic fake-pouted, before his gaze turned to Naomi's massive plate. "...Oh. Wow. You're gonna eat  _all_  that?"

"Yep." Naomi's plate looked like a mountain of multi-colored foodstuffs. "Apparently,  _jiang-shis_  have to eat. Like, a lot."

"Kirby could eat  _all_  that and go back for more, you know." Sonic chuckled as Naomi swept her plate in one hand, placed some utensils on the ceramic, and held her coffee in the other.

"Well, that's Kirby. Do you doubt my eating skills?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, nah, just saying. Anyway, c'mon, there's someone who want to see you again."

Naomi internally sighed.  _Here it comes; all those introductions I gotta do._ She plastered on a smile and asked who it was. In response, Sonic merely told her "You'll see" and started walking - yes, Sonic the Hedgehog  _walking_  instead of just blindly zooming ahead of everyone - to a table. Naomi followed, and barely had time to put down her food when she was tackled by an overenthusiastic boy wearing a red and blue baseball cap.

" _Naomi!_ " Ness bawled into her chest.

Naomi wrapped her arms around Ness. "...Hey, Ness."

She had always been friends with Ness in Brawl. There was something about his childlike optimism that reminded her of the person she used to be before she met Camilla: hyper, easily excitable, and without a care in the world. She  _had_ mellowed out a lot more since then, but sometimes she couldn't help but wonder what she would be like if things had gone just a little different; if her father had waited another second after the light turned green.

"When we got your announcement, I - I -"

"Hey, it's alright. General Melissa needed us, but y'know what? We're back now." Naomi laughed. "You're getting more of yours truly for a while now!"

"YAY!" He squealed, jumping up and down. "I saw what happened with the Belmonts last night, but I didn't get a chance to say hello - Hey! Guys! Naomi's back!"

As if on cue, all the younger Smashians that Naomi had become friends with during Brawl came running up to their table. Toon Link, Jigglypuff, the Ice Climbers - everyone was there. When was the last time Naomi actually had someone who got this excited over her mere presence?

_You know, Mom, I could get used to having friends again._

* * *

...So it turned out there actually were downsides to being a returning veteran from Brawl - namely, Naomi's very first battle being against Meta Knight. Camilla had interrupted the beautiful reunion about halfway, telling that their fighting schedules had arrived, and that she was so sorry. Naomi didn't get what she meant by the sorry part until she got a glimpse of it.

" _10 A.M. - Naomi vs. Meta Knight; Coliseum; singles"_

Sonic must have noticed the expression on the girl's face at this point, because he asked her why she was so pale. Without saying a word, Naomi showed him her schedule, and he whistled softly.

"I mean, lately he's not as bad, but you're so dead." He chuckled. "Namely, you're too slow, even now."

"You don't think I know that?" Naomi asked in between forkfuls of food. "And besides, you haven't seen me fight yet. I could be the fastest jiang-shi in space."

"You're the only jiang-shi in space." Sonic shrugged.

Oh, she definitely remembered the wrath of Meta Knight in Brawl. Everyone dreaded the day they would get a Meta Knight cycle, because they would be all but obliterated because of him. Even in a doubles match, they all fell to him. The tier-hogs would scream and cry whenever they were against Meta Knight, because it would be an instant loss. Naomi just hated the pain that Meta Knight would bring, every time she fought him she would be sore for the rest of the day and the day after.

It was safe to say that she wasn't looking forward to the battle. Soon, much too soon, it was tournament time. The breakfast buffet was being closed down, and though she wanted to stay with her old friends for the rest of the day, Naomi knew that wasn't how it was gonna work. She stood up, said her "see ya after the matches" and headed out. The tournaments were held pretty close by; Naomi got there with 15 minutes left to spare just ambling at a leisurely pace. Camilla had already gotten there (because  _of course_ ), and was currently trying to calm down Cheddar, who seemed to think he would get to fight too.

"No, boy, I'm sorry, but you're not going to fight with me...!" Camilla cooed, rubbing Cheddar's fur. The puppy yapped in response, jumping up onto her lap.

Naomi sighed and sat down in a plastic chair, her leg bouncing.

"Naomi, I am so sorry for you; really, I am." Camilla shook her head. "You poor thing."

"Shut it." Naomi really didn't want to hear it, anyway. "Who've you got today?"

Camilla pulled out her schedule and gave it a once-over. "...Uhhh, going up against...hm, Mario, Marth, Corrin - do we know 'em? - a few doubles matches, and some newcomers too. Who's this Bayonetta?"

"Beats me." Naomi shrugged.

Naomi's full name was called out on the speaker system.  _Hardly any time to sit..._ Fifteen minutes wasn't nearly enough for her. Where did the time even  _go?_ Naomi stood up again and grabbed the bracelet off her wrist. It wasn't really a  _bracelet_ , per say; more like a large, platinum bangle with four massive, curved blades inside of them. Naomi wasn't too sure how the Ravinans managed to make such a weapon that could do so much damage, but only in close quarters. Frankly, though, she loved using her shuriken against Amber Night Stalkers.

Camilla was squealing about how Cheddar was such a good boy as Naomi stepped out into the bright sunlight of the battle arena. There were hundreds of thousands of eyes on her at one side of the arena; her rather formidable opponent, Meta Knight, on the opposite side. The knight looked strangely calm, polishing his golden, spiked sword with his free hand.

Her side of the crowd cheered as Naomi spun her shuriken around in her hand once, just to make sure she still remembered the basics. Not like she could forget, though; even if Camilla hadn't drilled it into her head, all those times she fought off Amber Night Stalkers was enough to keep her on her toes and her memory refreshed. Why were they cheering? She hadn't even done anything - for all they knew, she could have gotten worse over time.

Meta Knight looked up at his opponent, nodding once at her. Naomi knew what he was like; always respecting the code of chivalry as a knight. During the times that he and Kirby used to fight each other (or so she was told), he would always offer Kirby a sword to make it fair. She always respected that about him; considering how Camilla was the exact opposite. If her opponent had fallen to the ground and scattered their weapons, well, sucks to be them; because they were gonna get sniped in the forehead with the gunblade.

 _No time to think!_  Naomi slipped her headphones on to calm her nerves. What song would fit this battle best...?

" _THREE! TWO! ONE!_ "

Naomi's music drowned out the thoughts in her head, and all her focus was on now was surviving against Meta Knight.

" ** _GO!_** "

...Naomi won. She barely made it, but she  _actually won against THE Meta Knight_. As he spun into a Mach Tornado to launch Naomi into the air, she had tried to cancel it out by throwing her shuriken at him. It spun forward, slicing him up, before returning to her hand. Of course, she was still caught in the blast and flew up. Her wings - very similar to a bat's, except scaled up in size - ripped out of her back and slowed her fall. Naomi's talisman flapped in the wind as she landed on her feet, following it up by a rapid dash at Meta Knight and swinging the shuriken again.

Surprisingly, it caught him and he was thrown back. The fight had raged on for quite some time at this point, so the both of them had taken quite a bit of damage. It shouldn't have surprised Naomi to see Meta Knight fly back, right out of the limits of the arena. He yelped in pain as a large flash of light engulfed him, and Naomi's side erupted into cheers.

" _Naomi Liu Wins!_ " The announcer boomed. The audience went wild as Meta Knight slowly clapped for her. Meta Knight was such a good sport, Naomi thought to herself.

Honestly though, Naomi was high on the ecstasy of winning against the great Meta Knight. She looked up at the faces of the audience. They all blurred together into an unrecognizable mess of eyes and lips, but Naomi let out a whoop, before cupping her hands over her mouth and shouting at the top of her lungs, "How'd ya like that, Mom?!"

_I won my first tournament! Do you remember Meta Knight, from the last time I was in Smash? Well, I fought him today and WON!_

_Are you proud of me?_

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
Snake's Codec about Naomi**

-bipbip-

 **Snake:** Mei Ling, who is this girl with wings?  
**Mei Ling:** That's Naomi Liu, Snake. She's a  _jiang-shi_ , which roughly translates to "stiff corpse" in Chinese.  
**Mei Ling:** She's our version of a vampire, and eats souls instead of blood.  
**Snake:**  "Stiff corpse," huh. Then why is she moving around so much?  
**Mei Ling:** Naomi's a little different from what mythology tells you about the  _jiang-shi_ ; namely, she has wings she can fly with and her body becomes more flexible after she consumes a soul.  
**Mei Ling:** Poor girl lost her father in a car accident, and her mother went missing soon after. Now she wants nothing more than to find her mother; the last bit of her family that may still be alive. I can't imagine what it's like...  
**Snake:**...I can.  
-bew-


	5. Chapter 5 - Uno Ruins Families

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: brain please we need to write camilla and naomi's origin book  
> Brain: SMASH UNO SMASH UNO SMASH UNO SMASH UNO SMASH UNO SMASH UNO-
> 
> i have no friggin idea why the thought of a bunch of smashians playing a card game was so funny i decided to write this instead of anything else
> 
> Anyway, I actually wrote the majority of this in the middle of writing Chapter Four, because apparently Uno also ruins the timeline of chapters being written. But in other news, WEW LAD, the stats on these chapters are insane! I had no idea chapter 1 would get 140 views alone! I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, and if you are, why not give this story a like and a follow, and maybe even a review? Each review/like/follow/anyone even breathing in the general direction of this fic means a lot to me, so thank you ahead of time!
> 
> Also: yes they're playing Classic Uno because I really don't wanna deal with the chaos of the new cards
> 
> Also also: The little things in life give me joy. Snake saying "Uno." in the most serious voice possible is one of them.
> 
> Also x3: I will forever be sad at the fact that I am not allowed to throw money at David Hayter to read his lines as Snake during Uno.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter Five  
Uno Ruins Families**

_Hey Mom, do you remember the last time we played Uno? I never did get to use my wild card I loved so much._

"Yoooo! Guess what ya girl found!" Naomi held her newfound treasure high up in the air, like she was Link on the other side of the room holding the Triforce.

Sonic squinted, reading the bright, colorful letters written on the tin. "...Uno?"

"Yep!" Naomi grinned, sitting back down at her seat in the Dining Hall and setting the Uno box onto the table. "Man, the last time I played Uno, I was still human. Ness, Sonic, you ever play Uno before?"

Sonic shook his head. "Never even heard of it."

"I never had time to play..." Ness made a similar motion. It was pretty quiet; it was past lunchtime and not quite dinnertime. Naomi had called the other two over to show them what she had found, buried in the closet where the last inhabitant had left it; perhaps by mistake, perhaps on purpose.

"Oh." Naomi said as she cracked open the tin. "Wanna learn how to? Not like I got anything better to do for the rest of the day. All my matches are done."

"Eh, why not. What about you, Ness?"

"Okay! I'll play!"

Naomi felt a flutter in her stomach at the thought of finally playing Uno again with friends - rather,  _a_  friend and someone where her opinion of them was either "pretty cool" or " _dissss-like_." She remembered her father's techniques; how he would always save his Action Cards until near the end of the game to try and turn the tide in his favor.

"Alright, so the basics of Uno is that we each start with seven cards, and try to get rid of them all in the discard pile. The only catch is that each card we put down has to match the previous card in some way." Naomi started. "So, like, we can't put down a 7 card with a green background on top of a 6 card with a red background, but a 7 card with a red background, or a 6 card with a green background is fine, because the former matches the background, and the latter matches the number."

Both Sonic and Ness nodded in understanding. In her opinion, Naomi was starting to get pretty good at explaining things. That was one of the perks one would get with being with Camilla - after she asked so many questions in utter confusion about things like Naomi's amiibo, she learned how to explain things precisely in a way that Camilla would at least  _sort of_  get it.

"When you get to your last card, you have to shout "Uno!" to let everyone know you're about to win, like saying 'checkmate' in chess. The first person to get rid of all their cards wins. If you don't have any cards in your hand that matches the top card, you have to draw another from the deck. If you can play that card - so, using our Red 6 example and you draw a Red 8 or a Yellow 6 - then play it; otherwise, you keep drawing until you get a usable card, even if you get, like, 10 cards from it." Naomi said. "However, we also have  _Action and Wild Cards._ "

Here, Naomi sifted through the deck and held up one - this one a Wild Card. "This one's a Wild Card, so this one in particular means you can change the color that everyone has to put down - so - so like, if everyone's throwing down greens, you can chuck this one down and, like, you can make everyone have to throw down reds or blues or yellows."

"Uno's complicated..."

"Yeah, I know it takes a little time to memorize, Ness. But all you really have to know is that you need to throw down cards that match. Lemme just go through the rest of the Action Cards real quick so we can get to playing."

She flipped through the cards, pulling out a Draw 4 Wild, a Draw 2, a Reverse, and a Skip. "The Draw 4 Wild means that not only can you change the color everyone plays, but the next player must also draw four cards and skip their turn; the catch is that you can only play this card when you have nothing else, so, again using our Red 6 example, if you don't have any sixes or reds, you can play this, but otherwise, you have to play your matching cards.

"Draw 2, Reverse, and Skip have to be color-coordinated too like any other card that's not Wild. Skip means the next person can't take their turn, Draw 2 means the next person must draw two cards and then skip their turn, and Reverse means that if, like, we're playing clockwise - I get a turn, then Sonic, then Ness - then that's reversed: Ness gets his turn first, then Sonic, and then me, and I think we've covered everything!" Naomi took a breath. "You got all that?"

Sonic thought for a second. "Yeah, I think so."

"Me too!"

"Right! I think we can get started, then!" Naomi started shuffling the cards. "To see who's the dealer of cards, we each gotta draw a card. Whoever gets the highest number is the dealer. Again, we each get dealt seven cards."

With that, Naomi pulled out her card, then Sonic, and then Ness. "And now show your cards!"

They did.

"You draw, Sonic." Naomi nodded. "You got the nine. Everyone gets seven cards. The discard pile starts with the next card after that."

"Al-right!" Sonic cheered, pumping his fist. The cards were reshuffled, and each player got seven cards.

A Blue 5 started the Discard Pile. Naomi groaned and drew some cards. Of course her first turn started with having no cards to play. Ness threw down a Red 5, Sonic following that up with Red 7. Naomi played a Red Skip on Ness.

"Also, we're not allowed to flip the table in rage or use any of our moves on the other." Naomi quickly added. "Just wanted to get that early before it's too late."

Ness just pouted slightly, but he skipped his turn. Sonic threw down a Red Draw 2 at Naomi. The game started out so innocently; everyone was happy and enjoying themselves, even if they were losing pretty hard. Sonic won after a close match against Ness; meanwhile Naomi still had 11 cards at the end of the game.

"That was fun!" Ness chirped. "Can we play again?"

"Yeah, of course. You up for another round, Naomi?" Sonic eyed the girl.

Naomi nodded. "You betcha. This round's gonna be my comeback."

They returned the cards to the deck and started reshuffling, and that was when things started going downhill. The dinner rush started roughly around then, which meant fighters started streaming in. Camilla caught sight of the trio - which wasn't hard, considering the table they chose was close to the entrance of the dining hall. She stopped in her tracks, her partner for her last doubles match, King Dedede, doing the same before noticing the three of them.

"What're y'all up to?" Dedede asked; having never seen Uno before.

Naomi looked up at him, before perking up. "Oh, it's a card game called Uno! It's  _really_  fun. You remember it, right Camilla? The one with the colors and numbers? I told you all about it."

"Oh yeah, that one!" Camilla chuckled. "Gotta admit, I'm a little curious about it. Got room for another player?"

"Yeah, actually! We're just starting another round." Sonic joined in. "Wanna play, Dedede?"

The king thought for a second, and then shrugged. "Ah, why not?"

Camilla dragged two chairs away from a nearby table, sitting down in one herself as Dedede took the other, resting his mallet on the back of the chair. It took a few minutes for the game to start - needing to explain Wild Draw 4 cards at least thrice to Dedede until he got it - but once it did, it got...well, it got wild, to say the least.

"What?! That's against the rules!" Dedede exclaimed as Naomi threw a blue Skip in his direction.

Naomi shook her head, lifting up the previous card to show she had, in fact, placed it on top of another Blue card. "Sorry Deeds, it's not. You gotta skip the turn."

Dedede grumbled under his breath that they were all out to get him, but did skip the turn, in his defense.

"Hey, guess what, Sonic!" Camilla crowed, pulling out a card.

Sonic looked up at her, unsure if he should respond or not. "...What?"

She threw down a red Skip card at him. "Uno."

Sonic groaned. Naomi laughed.

"That - that there is Neutral Evil." Naomi managed to choke out in between her laughter. Camilla, as usual, had no idea what Naomi was saying, but rolled with it anyway.

* * *

Camilla won that round, much to the disdain of Dedede, who had more cards than Naomi had; a whopping 15 cards to Naomi's seven. The Ravinan cheered as Sonic played a wild card and chose blue, not knowing that was the color of her last card. Her turn came immediately after, and she slammed down the card as hard as she could.

"Wanna play again?" Naomi asked, placing her cards back in the deck.

Camilla and Sonic simultaneously went "Heck yeah!"

"Okay!" Ness grinned. "Good job, by the way, Camilla!"

"Thanks Ness." Camilla nodded.

Naomi looked at Dedede, who was sitting with his arms crossed glaring at his cards. "What about you, Deeds?"

Dedede grumbled again (he probably didn't approve of the nickname that Naomi had bestowed upon him during  _Brawl,_  but whatever, he wasn't gonna try and fight a vampire over a name), and sighed heavily. "...Fine. One more round."

Naomi slid Dedede's rather impressive hand of cards over, returning it the pile and reshuffling. That was bound to have been the highest number of cards she had ever seen someone have in their hand at one time, so she had to give props to Dedede to breaking that personal record of hers.

"What is Dedede mad about this time?" Naomi looked up. It was Meta Knight, coming over to investigate.

Camilla looked excited to try and rope people into Uno. "We're playing Uno! Ever played?"

"...No, I have not."

Was it just Naomi, or was she the only one in the Smash Mansion who knew how to play Uno? "Do you wanna learn?"

Meta Knight thought for a second, before he shrugged and sheathed his sword as he dragged another chair to the table. "I don't see why not."

Naomi wasn't too sure how exactly they did it, but eventually they managed to get Snake into Uno as well. To be honest, Naomi was surprised that Snake even  _knew_ what Uno was - at least she wasn't the only one who could play without needing an explanation - but he said something about Otacon loving the game. So that's how Naomi found herself in the middle of dinner, playing Uno with Sonic, Ness, Camilla, Dedede, Meta Knight and Snake. It sounded kind of like the opening to a bad joke now that she thought about it. Something something  _jiang-shi_  something something fastest hedgehog alive walk into a bar... except the punchline is that they play Uno.

Through a series of Naomi having bad hands, never once getting a Wild Card of any sort, and Dedede lucking out big time, the king actually won the next round. As he did, he cheered at the top of his lungs, jumping up to his feet and - Naomi was  _not_  kidding when she said this - got up on the table. And started dancing.

"Ha! I woooon, and you did nooot!" Dedede cheered, pointing at the others at the line of them not winning. Naomi just turned to the closest person available that wasn't blocked by Dedede's massive body (which turned out to be Sonic) and gave them a look, as if silently asking  _'You're...you're seeing this too, right? It's not just me?'_  According to the look Sonic gave back, it wasn't just her. Snake just buried his face in a hand.

Meta Knight was not amused by Dedede's antics. "Dedede, get down from the table."

Naomi knew dang well that Camilla was a pretty sore loser too, just as much as Dedede was a sore winner; so she just waited for the inevitable. Just as she thought, the white-haired Ravinan leaped up from her seat, slamming one hand on the table and pointing at Dedede.

"You cheater!" Camilla snarled. "The only reason why you won was because of all your Draw 4 cards! Bet you got the deck rigged somehow, huh, Mr.  _Card Dealer?!_ "

"Orrrr," Dedede did not stop dancing. The table was starting to wobble, and the thought of it tipping over/breaking was starting to become an actual concern of Naomi's. "you just suck at Uno."

This seemed to enrage Camilla even more. "Well,  _let's settle this._  Uno rematch, right now! The person who wins that round can be declared the  _Uno King._ "

"What about the Uno Queen?" Naomi couldn't help but pipe in.

"Yes, that too, but my point still stands! You are going to agree to this round, arentcha, Dedede?" Camilla glared at the dancing penguin. "Or are you too chicken?"

This made Dedede stop in his tracks. "You think I'm a chicken?  _I am not a chicken!_ "

"Then accept the game!"

"Fine, I will!" Dedede plonked back down into his chair, all while staring daggers at Camilla.

"...Well, since apparently we're going for the most intense round of Uno ever, I guess we might as well play the 7s and 0s rule too." Naomi started collecting all the cards and reshuffling the deck. "It's a special rule where, if someone plays a 7 of any color, they can swap hands with a person of their choice. If someone plays a 0 of any color, though, everyone has to swap hands in the order of play; so like, if we're playing clockwise and Meta Knight here throws down a 0, we all have to swap cards with the person to our left. Sound good?"

"Enact it." Camilla huffed, not taking her eyes off Dedede.

Dedede spat, " _Feel free to._ "

"That sounds horrifying and I want that rule now." Sonic added.

"Sounds pretty fun to me!" Ah, Ness; such a good sport. "I say we go for it!"

Snake shrugged. "I don't see why not."

That left Meta Knight, who soon agreed to it. "If it can humble Dedede, then I am all for it."

"Verdict's in, then." Naomi slid the deck out to the center of the table. "This will be the 7s and 0s round of Smash Uno, and with this round, we will find out who sitting at this table is the best at Uno!"

Her voice attracted the attention of a few casual onlookers (as if Dedede didn't already cause people to stare at him in confusion at his victory dance). This didn't go unnoticed by Camilla.

"Oh, look; we have an  _audience,_  too." Camilla grinned. "Looks like I gotta win now, eh?"

"As if someone like you will stand a chance against the great King Dedede!"

Naomi sharply whistled to grab everyone's attention away from the trash-talkers. "We gotta figure out who's the dealer. Draw a card."

They all did. Naomi pulled a 9. "Guess I'm the dealer, huh? Alright, time to deal, then."

She flicked seven cards at everyone, put down a Green 4 to start the discard pile, and Uno began. As if Uno wasn't already serious enough, just having the two extremely competitive fighters playing against was enough to put a new air of determination around the table. Snake threw down the card that no one wanted to see: a Wild Draw 4.

"Red."

Camilla let out a noise that was almost inhuman. "Buh - wh- I  _just_  started and now Snake hits me with a Draw 4?!"

"Sorry, Camilla." Snake muttered.

Camilla turned to Naomi. "Is there a way to see if this man really didn't have anymore Greens or he just did this on purpose?"

Naomi wasn't sure if she should tell her. "...Yyyyeah, actually. You can challenge them to show their hand. If they didn't have any cards that matched and therefore didn't play it illegally, you gotta draw six cards. If they did play illegally, they get hit with the Draw 4 instead."

"Then show me your hand, Snake!"

He did. Camilla was hit with the extra 2 cards. No one was really sure if the noises Camilla was making was her laughing or on the verge of sobbing as she pulled out six cards from the deck and added it to her hand. Dedede placed down a Red 6. Meta Knight placed down another Red 6. Sonic followed it up with a Blue 6, and Ness put down a Blue Reverse card. This, of course meant Sonic got another turn. He furrowed his brow at his hand, trying to decide which one to play, before tossing down a Blue Skip at Dedede. He said something about cheating, but still took the skip.

Meta Knight huffed softly as he placed down another Blue card. Camilla let out another giggle/sob as she stared at her enormous hand of cards. Naomi couldn't help but notice that people who had a larger than normal deck made the back look like it was saying "UUUUUUNO" or "UNOOOOOOO." Camilla plucked one out and for some reason, Naomi felt her heart skip a beat. She wasn't even the one who was gonna get a turn next (that would be Snake), so why was she suddenly nervous?

"Y'know what, Snake? This is revenge!" Camilla slammed down a Blue Draw 2.

Snake sighed, taking two cards from the pile. Naomi...had no cards that she could play. One hand slid to the draw pile, and kept coming back. Again. Again. And again. And again. Her heart pounded in her chest as she pulled out another card, sneaking another glance at it to see what she drew.  _Finally_ , she was able to throw down a blue card. The group started playing their cards again. On his turn, Sonic ended up drawing a ridiculous amount of cards before he could play something - Naomi wasn't sure the exact amount, but she roughly guessed it was around ten or so cards. The look on his face was priceless.

The game went on for quite a while; maybe half an hour? This was definitely the longest match that Naomi had played. Now, three members were down to their last two cards - Snake, Dedede, and Naomi; rather, it was just Dedede and Naomi now, as Snake placed down a Green 9 on top of a Green Draw 2 card.

"Uno." Snake growled, completely serious.

Someone had thrown down another Reverse Card, so they were back to clockwise. Naomi could hardly keep the jitters down, knowing that when her turn came, she was going to ruin this man's whole Uno career. She didn't remember who played what, but at this point, the color or number of the cards didn't matter, not with what she had in mind. Her turn came mercifully quick - no shouting match between Camilla and Dedede delayed anything. It was kind of funny, how just a few hours ago the two of them were happily fighting side-by-side, and now look.

Naomi looked down at her last two cards, a massive grin on her face, before she selected one and glanced at Snake. He made eye contact with her, which prompted her to start speaking.

"First of all, Snake, Uno. Second of all..." Naomi knew what she was doing was pure evil, but did she care? Not really. She slammed down her card: a Wild Draw 4. "I call Red."

The whole table went silent at Naomi's sudden act of villainy. Dedede's jaw was comically dropped, Camilla wide-eyed. Sonic and Ness turned to each other, and then back at Naomi. Meta Knight just shook his head, and Snake couldn't believe the girl he was playing Uno with.

"...Kid, if I only knew you from that move alone, I'd say you were a sociopath." Snake finally said.

"I know." She hummed, cracking open her third Snickers bar that Uno round. Man, playing Uno as a Chaotic Evil was  _fun._  "And that, Camilla, is how you properly make an Uno move that simultaneously causes destruction."

Camilla let out a short, clipped laugh. "Naomi, if I had known earlier you had Queen Fatima levels of evil in you, I think I would've tried to be a bit nicer to you."

"I only have it in me when I'm playing Uno, so you're all good." Naomi took a bite out of her Snickers. "Anyway, your move, Snake - oh wait, it's already been decided."

Meta Knight looked disappointed in her. "There's no reason to rub it in, Naomi."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Couldn't resist."

Dedede scoffed. "Well, there's no reason to get excited, anyway;  _I'm_  going to win!"

"You sure about that, Dedede?" Camilla raised an eyebrow.

"Considering how many cards  _you_  have, I'd say my victory is imminent!" He motioned to her hand. Though she still was nowhere near Sonic's level of cards, Camilla still had  _way_  too many.

"Mmmmm-hm." Camilla nodded, and at the moment Naomi knew that her space partner was planning something. She never drew out her "mhm"s like that unless she was thinking... At this rate, their little game of Uno was starting to become far more stressful than Naomi's fight against Meta Knight during her matches.

As Snake added four more cards to his hand, Camilla turned to Dedede again. "You  _sure_  about that?"

"Of course! Even if I have two cards and cannot win this round immediately, you still have too many to catch up with me!"

"Well, not anymore, buddy." Camilla slammed down a Red 7. "Gimme your deck."

* * *

"...and that's how Dedede destroyed the table and caused Camilla to go to the Infirmary." Naomi rubbed the back of her neck as she recounted the tale to Master Hand.

The hand sighed heavily. "Well, I'm not surprised that it came from Dedede... But why did you ask him to play with you, knowing he would do such a thing?"

"I..." Naomi thought. "...I...honestly don't know. He and Camilla were getting along so well before this. I guess Uno just ruins families."

_Mom, remind me again never to pit King Dedede and Camilla against each other, especially in Uno. It will always result in a disaster. I just wish you were here to see it._


	6. Chapter 6 - Eating Contests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually gonna be part of Chapter 4, but then it got WAAAYYY too long, so I ended up splitting it into this. I don't know why the thought of this was so funny, but here we are, folks. Anyway, I've sorta been on a break from Ultimate Daydream ever since I got C4 up. However, the motivation is back, ladies and gents, and you're gonna get more of your probably not favorite, but tolerable jiang-shi and Ravinan duo!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

 

**Chapter 6  
Eating Contests**

“I wonder how much Kirby can eat.” Those opening words were so innocent and lighthearted as a question; anyone could have eventually wondered the same thing, right? When Sonic uttered these seven words, though, Naomi completely stopped in her tracks, setting her fork down (which had been midway to her mouth) so she could pay more attention to the blue hedgehog.

“…You’re kidding me, right?” Naomi chuckled. “He’s – he’s _Kirby!_ He can eat more than me.”

Sonic didn’t drop the issue at this point. “Yeah, but how much, though?”

“Well, I mean…” She trailed off, before starting up again. “He can eat – …I – I don’t know!”

“All we know is that Kirby eats a lot!” Isabelle chirped, happy as can be. The puppy had taken quite a liking to their table, after Cheddar practically dragged her over to make friends with them. She and Cheddar really liked each other, Naomi had noted. Naomi could frequently see Isabelle, Cheddar, and the toy poodle Nintendog playing together in the grass any time they could. Recently, they even befriended the Duck Hunt dog and his bird friend.

How much COULD Kirby eat? That was the question that passed the time in Naomi’s Saturday morning with Sonic, Ness, and Isabelle. Camilla was off, going on a “walkies” with Cheddar, as she called it, so it wasn’t like they could potentially get stopped by the Ravinan buzz-kill. After a bit of debating, Ness was the first one to bring the idea to the table – why not feed Kirby some food until he gets full?

“Now you’re talkin’, Ness!” Sonic grinned, leaning one elbow on the back of his chair.

“Hmm…” Isabelle looked around, before scribbling something down on a notepad she seemed to keep in her vest all the time. “We usually waste about half of the food here, so feeding it all to Kirby today means that not only do we learn something, but we don’t throw out perfectly good food!”

Naomi blinked. “That’s…that’s actually a _really_ good idea. Thank you, Ness.”

“No problem!” Ness beamed at being told by his friends his idea was great.

“Hey! Hey Kirby, c’mere!” Sonic started waving his arms at the next table over.

Kirby looked up from his friends and at Sonic, smiling wide and waving with one little arm.

“Hiiii!” Kirby squeaked.

“Come here, Kirby, we wanna know something!” Naomi called.

Kirby waddled on over, hopping up onto the chair the group had dragged over for them. “Poyo?”

Isabelle started first. “Do you know how much you can eat, Kirby?”

“Poyo…” He shook his head.

“Wanna find out?” This was Naomi.

Kirby looked excited to answer one of the world’s unsolved mysteries with his friends. “Poyo! Poyo!”

At this point, Ness staggered over with two plates of leftover breakfast food. They were piled up pretty high; higher than Naomi’s plates usually were stacked, and that was saying a lot. The boy struggled a bit with the food, but eventually managed to set it down on the table. Kirby’s eyes practically lit up at all the food, before glancing up at Ness, as if asking if it was all for him. Once he got the confirmation, he literally inhaled it all in, only stopping once both plates were cleaned out in under ten seconds.

“…That was fast.” Naomi chuckled. She wasn’t too sure what she expected, but it wasn’t this.

Sonic zoomed to the table and back, heaping piles of food onto plates and carrying it to Kirby, who ate them all. This was _fun,_ Naomi realized. Why was watching a little thing like Kirby eat so much so entertaining, she wasn’t too sure. But did she really care? …Nah, not really. Isabelle started writing stuff down in her notepad again.

“He’s already eaten five plates and still going strong!” She chirped.

“Well, don’t stop him now!” Naomi waved her arms around. “Let’s get him some _more_ food!”

Kirby just looked happy to be eating so much. _Honestly, Kirb,_ Naomi thought to herself, _same. Same._ About twenty-something plates later, the group ran out of food to give Kirby. By then, Isabelle had calculated that he had already devoured about thirty pounds of food, and, judging by how he was waving his nubs for arms around going “poyo! poyo!” he was still hungry.

“I’ll go ask Kawasaki to whip up a bit more!” Isabelle chirped, sliding off the chair and walking up to the now-empty buffet table. Naomi cracked open another bag of marshmallows and started munching. For a moment, Naomi wondered how Camilla would react if she knew what they were doing. She’d probably tell the group to stop it; there were far better ways to entertain themselves. Naomi would probably have to remind her about the Uno incident.

She pulled out her helm from her backpack; sleek and white with a pink visor and an emblem of two ballet shoes; the ribbons twisted together. That was the symbol of the East Oclanian (and, from how Camilla praised the country’s forces so much for being the ambassadors of Ravina, basically Ravinan) military. Camilla had said something about the shoes representing the determination, strength and gracefulness of the East Oclanian, and how ballet was totally a skill that was looked up on in Ravina.

Was Camilla still connected? Naomi checked; didn’t look like she was. Camilla must still be out on that walk with Cheddar. Knowing her, she was probably squealing over Nintendog and letting him and Cheddar play together. That was fine by her; that just gave her more time to conduct this experiment with Kirby without Camilla barging in and ruining all the fun.

Naomi looked up at the sound of a very upset roar that went something along the lines of, “What happened to all the food?!”

“…Bad timing, Deeds.” She called out.

“I repeat: where did all the leftover breakfast food go?!” King Dedede crossed his arms in Naomi’s general direction. Behind him were two or three Waddle Dees standing single-file.

“We’re trying to see how much Kirby can eat, Your Highness!” Ness explained. “Isabelle went to ask for some more food!”

Dedede’s expression had all the anger of a thunderstorm at this point. “Are you serious?!”

_Mistakes have been made._

“Hiii!” Kirby waved at Dedede, using nothing but all the delight that only a child like him can put into one little gesture like that.

“How could you participate in such an experiment without me involved?!” Dedede grabbed a chair and sat down with the rest of the group. “Are we all just going to believe that Kirby can eat the most out of this group without having me to compete against him?”

…Naomi wasn’t sure what she was expecting out of Dedede when Ness told him what was going on, but it wasn’t that.

“…In other words, you want to do an eating contest between you and Kirby.” Naomi mused out loud.

“Yes!” Dedede kept his arms crossed.

“I’m down for it.” Sonic shrugged.

Ness chimed in, “Me too!”

“Kyuu!” Kirby clapped in excitement.

Was this going to be Uno all over again? Honestly, Naomi didn’t care; this was gonna be _funny_. At this point, Isabelle returned with two plates of food – both for Kirby, but she stopped halfway in her tracks once she saw Dedede. The poor puppy was so confused; surely Dedede wasn’t the kind of person to just witness such a thing like what they had planned, right?

“Huh??” Isabelle tilted her head. “What’s going on?”

Naomi clarified, “We’re gonna have an eating contest between Deeds and Kirb. Who do you think can eat more?”

“…Well, I’d have to say Kirby can, in my opinion!” Isabelle chirped, setting down the food.

“Poyo!” Kirby was such a happy little puffball; Naomi just wanted to sweep him into a hug.

“What? Dedede can eat more!” Sonic started, “I mean, look at him! He’s bigger than Kirby, which means he could fit more food in his stomach than Kirby!”

“…Yeah, Sonic’s right!” Ness nodded.

Naomi stood up and saluted. “Team Kirby!”

“Team Kirby is obviously the wrong team to be on!” Dedede snapped. “Sonic and Ness get that.”

“Well, folks, there’s only one way to settle this!” Naomi leapt up to the table and blew an air-horn she kept in her backpack (usually for the sole purpose of annoying Camilla). Thank goodness it was just them and Kawasaki now. “Today, we are going to answer the age-old question: Can King Dedede eat more than Kirby?!”

Their table erupted into cheers as Isabelle went and grabbed more food, this time for Dedede.

“Now, _go!_ ”

The two started to devour the food, just as Naomi heard Camilla’s voice in her headset.

“… _Naomi, you better stop this immediately!_ ”

_Mom, remind me to always make sure I’m not wearing my helm whenever I’m doing my so-called Naomi Antics._

* * *

 

Camilla had been walking with Cheddar since early in the morning. The puppy had been practically bursting with energy that day, and wanted to explore the entire Smash Mansion area again. Camilla didn’t mind that, though; she loved her best friend and wanted to make sure he was always happy.

Halfway through, Cheddar had met his new best friend Nintendog and wanted to play with him in the grass, so that was another time-killer. That was fine, though. It wasn’t very often she could meet dogs in space (Cheddar was actually the very first dog she had ever seen), so Cheddar was bound to have wanted to run around with friends of his own kind.

Camilla slid her helm on as Cheddar and Nintendog started to roll around together. Oh, looked like Maximus was online. She would have to talk to him later after coming back home from Cheddar’s walk. He probably missed her, and Camilla would be lying if she said she didn’t miss him too. Naomi was online too, that was interesting. She reached up a hand to tune into her channel, just to see how she was doing without her “dimensional tour guide” around.

“ _Now connected to Naomi Liu’s channel!_ ” The friendly voice of the computer hummed in her ear. Camilla always liked her voice; it belonged to an AI unofficially dubbed “Ava,” which in itself was a pretty name. Ava was a popular choice for the East Oclanian’s AI partners, and Camilla was no different.

Camilla opened her mouth to say something to Naomi, but was cut off by the teenager’s own voice. “ _– are going to answer the age-old question: Can King Dedede eat more than Kirby?!_ ”

Her stomach almost immediately dropped into her feet. So that was what Naomi got up to without her around. Next thing she knew, there was chomping noises in the background. Oh. Oh no, Naomi was being serious. Didn’t she learn from Smash Uno? Dr. Mario was so confused about _how_ Camilla had sustained those injuries, and she would think the doctor had seen everything at that point. She had to explain to him that she had been playing a _card game_ and King Dedede got irrationally angry.

“…Naomi, you better stop this immediately!” Camilla snapped into her headset.

She could practically see Naomi jump at this point. “Oh, uhhhh, hi Camilla.”

“Why on Ravina did you think that an _eating contest_ , between Dedede and Kirby of all people, would be a good idea?”

“No idea – Isabelle, get Kirby some more food; don’t you dare let Deeds win!”

“Oh, no you don’t, I’m coming over there _right now!_ ” Camilla had to yank her helm off at this point, lest she ended up having a heart attack from Naomi’s antics. Getting this stressed over what Naomi may be getting up to without her around to reel her in definitely wasn’t good for Camilla’s heart, even if it was an East Oclanian-grade organ. “Cheddar, honey, you need to say bye-bye to Nintendog; we gotta go.”

Cheddar let out a rather sad-sounding bark and dropped down from the tree he and Nintendog were barking up against.

“I know, I know, I don’t want to either, but Naomi’s getting herself into trouble again.” Camilla explained.

Cheddar seemed to get it at this point, as he nuzzled Nintendog a bit before trotting back up to Camilla as she clipped his leash back onto his collar. The path they took was quick and short, but it was already too late – by the time Camilla barreled headfirst into the dining area, the room was already a mess. Waddle Dees were rushing to and fro, grabbing as much food as they could get and bringing it back to Dedede, who devoured it all in an instant.

Kirby, meanwhile, had taken a new approach and was rapidly inhaling the food right off the buffet table, plates and all. One side of the room, Sonic and Ness were chanting “De-de-de! De-de-de!” over and over again, while Isabelle and Naomi had taken upon the chant of “Kirby! Kirby! Kirby!” Camilla had gotten there just in time, too; after maybe a few seconds of this absolute nonsense all the food had been eaten and suddenly Kirby had the buffet table stuck in his mouth – oh no, he was gonna actually eat it, wasn’t he?

Camilla inhaled and shouted at the top of her lungs, “ _NAOMI!_ ”

Naomi swiveled around on her heel _real_ quick after that. “…Hi Camilla.”

“Phoyo!” Kirby’s muffled voice squeaked as he tried to eat the table.

“We’re trying to see who can eat more: Kirby or Dedede!” Isabelle explained.

“I am well aware of that, and I’m here to tell you that _you need to stop!_ ”

Naomi tried shouting over her. “But then how can we tell who eats more?!”

“Kirby, you cheater!” Dedede snarled.

“You all realize that Kirby’s stomach is literally a parallel dimension, right?!” Camilla yelled back.

This seemed to shut everyone up. Finally, Naomi spoke up first. “…Wait, what?”

“It is a dimension filled with nothing but the void and the things Kirby eats; he can out-eat everyone if he wanted to!”

The table was halfway in Kirby’s mouth at this point, and it didn’t look like he was gonna be stopping at just half. The entire group looked back at Kirby at this point, and in a true showcase of hive-mind, the two groups suddenly banded together and started shouting “Kirby, no, don’t do it!” and running up to him to try and stop him before it was too late.

This was going to be a long day for Camilla…


	7. Chapter 7 - Dogs Are the Best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's 2.5k words of fluff about dogs to brighten up your day
> 
> you knew I had to eventually do something like this. That's right, this is the: ULTIMATE DAYDREAM CHAPTER IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF CHEDDAR. He was too pure to not eventually do a chapter in his perspective, and what better way to fulfill that than to have him go on ADVENTURES with his bes fren the Nintendog?
> 
> This chapter was honestly super fun to write tbh; Cheddar is a very gud boi and I loved writing as him.
> 
> Anyway AAAAAAA I love you all so much for looking at this silly little thing I thought would get no attention! Thank you all for reviewing, following and favoriting The Ultimate Daydream! It really means a lot to know that people are reading this and aren't absolutely repulsed by my ideas/OCs/writing of the actual characters! Don't forget to check out my Twitter to know how things are pluggin' along! The username's AwesomeTrinket.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 7  
Dogs are the Best**

Cheddar just wanted to do a big leap and then nap for a while. It wasn't very hard to make the puppy happy; just pet him, call him a good boy and give him his doggie food and Cheddar would instantly consider you his new best friend. Camilla was no different – from what he remembered she was his first best friend in the whole world, and then after tiring himself out with zoomies and falling asleep he met his second best friend in the whole world, Naomi.

Lately though, his two best friends were always away, running to and fro out of doors and sometimes coming out hurt. Cheddar, being the very good boy he is, would always jump up and try to lick away the blood on their cuts and bruises. This would always put a smile on their faces. Sometimes, Cheddar wondered why they would always go through those doors if they would always end up getting hurt.

Then again, Cheddar was one to talk. The first time he met Pichu she zipped-zapped him a little on the snout, but here he was, calling her one of his many best friends.

Right now, though, Cheddar was sitting in the lobby area with one of his many best friends, the Nintendog. The fluffy toy poodle was running around, reassuring the people in the area that they were gonna do great and that he believed in them. Cheddar, however, was a very patient puppy – even if that was difficult to be right now – and was lying down, keeping his eyes trained on the door Camilla went through. She said something along the lines of needing to fight people in order to pay for something that happened to the food table.

"D'aww, who's a good boy, Fluff, who's a good boy?" Cheddar perked up and turned his head. There were only a few people he knew that liked to call the Nintendog by his real name Fluff and not Nintendog. Oh, there was his princess best friend! She was the yellow and pink one or so he's told (what was her name? Apple? Orange? He  _knew_  she was some kind of fruit…) and right now she was petting the Nintendog on the top of his head. Judging by how he was wagging his tail, he seemed happy too.

Dogs made her happy! If one dog made her happy, two dogs must make her extra happy, Cheddar thought to himself. He took one last glance back at Camilla's door before standing up and trotting over to his princess friend. He was right: two dogs made her extra happy! She was trying her best to give them both pets, but Cheddar was just happy to see her happy. Happy people are the best.

His princess friend smiled. "I'm so glad we have such cute puppies here at Smash Mansion…!"

Cheddar barked in delight. Yes, he was cute! He was a puppy! A happy little puppy that everyone loved!

His princess friend was called out on the intercom. Oh, Peach, that was her name. Peaches were tasty. Sometimes, if he looked cute enough, his best friend Naomi would give him some of her food. Once she even let him have a piece of peach; it was sweet and furry on his tongue. His Peach friend stood up at this point and started heading for a door as someone else kicked their own door open.

"THAT'S RIGHT, K. Rool; look who's boss this time!" They yelped. Ooh, this was a Mii fighter! Wasn't she that sword girl, Lisa? She had fluffy yellow hair, just like Cheddar himself did! Lisa liked to sneak him extra treats when no one was looking. She was always his favorite of the Mii fighters.

Lisa untied the bandanna from her head and chucked it away into a box before stomping out of the lobby. She looked sleepy. Maybe she did a big zoom like Cheddar did earlier, too! Fluff walked over to the box she threw her bandanna in and started sniffling. Cheddar, not wanting to be left out if Fluff made a big discovery, did the same thing.

The box was full of clothes and hats that had all sorts of different smells to them. Cheddar stuck his head in and came out with his head feeling all heavy and everything looking yellow. Fluff barked that he looked like Samus now. Some passerby cooed and said he looked cute in that helmet, before leaning down to scratch under his chin.

At this point, Fluff imitated his move and stuck his head in the box. He snuffled around, tail wagging as he did his detective work. He reemerged with a large hat on his head, the top curved up impossibly high like Cheddar's Christmas tree friend Steve. He looked like a wizard with that hat, Cheddar realized. The thought of that made him happy. He looked back at the door Camilla went into. She still wasn't back yet… where was his best friend anyway? He wanted to show her his helmet! It was just like the one she had! She would be so proud!

Fluff looked back at the lobby door and started to sniff. Cheddar couldn't smell very well (because he had a helmet on), but soon enough he caught whiff of a few scents. One of them was oddly familiar, but the other was brand new. Where had he smelled it before...? Fluff trotted up to the door, yapped, and started pawing at the wood. Cheddar  _really_  wanted to go investigate now, too! He tried another tactic – leaping up to the doorknob to see if he could grab ahold of it. Sadly, he was a dog and had no thumbs.

His other, new princess best friend, Zelda, giggled at their antics. "Would you two like to go out to the hallway?"

Fluff yipped in delight.

"Don't wander too far." Zelda leaned over and opened the door for them at this point.

Alas, it was already too late for her warnings, because as soon as the door was open, the two pups  _zoomed_  out like two furry bolts of lightning. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, new friends were nearby! Cheddar could literally smell it in the air. Well, he was partially wrong – yes, there was a new friend, but who else would Cheddar run into besides the puppy that previously held the title of Nintendog in Brawl, Butter? He always liked Butter a lot. Like Cheddar, he was a Retriever of some sort, though more of a Labrador Retriever than anything else. With Butter was another friend; his fur was black and white and he had a little stub of a tail. Cheddar instantly decided he liked this puppy.

Cheddar was so delighted to see his new friend and old friend he nearly ended up falling over. New friends! He could introduce Fluff to his friend! They could all be friends! Butter and the new puppy yipped and started sniffing the both of them. A quick glance made Cheddar learn that Fluff was also sniffing them. Honestly, Cheddar would be checking out the new pup if he were any less delighted to see Butter.

After a bit, it was decided that yes, these puppies were, in fact, their new best friends, and they had to show them around. Like,  _right now_  or Cheddar was gonna explode from excitement. It took the puppy five minutes to calm down enough that he could ask the new puppy what his name was. His name was Biscuits. He liked Biscuits - it reminded him of that time Naomi left a sandwich on the counter, only for there to no longer be a sandwich on the counter soon after. The crumbs on Cheddar's mouth just mysteriously appeared as the sandwich disappeared.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy, was Cheddar excited. Biscuits had been part of Smash too! He was the Nintendog during that one Smash they didn't get invited to. That was okay, though! That meant he would be a brand new friend to have. Fluff yipped and jumped up, saying that he and Cheddar had to show them around to Smash Mansion; it was so  _cool!_  At this point, Cheddar knew exactly the place he wanted to show them first. He let out a happy bark, turned, and started zooming down the hallway, his three dog friends following.

* * *

The beach was always one of Cheddar's favorite places to go to during walkies. There was just something about beaches that dogs loved; whether it was the sand or the water, no one really knows. What  _is_  a well-known fact about that, however, was that it was absolutely adorable to see dogs get so happy over it, and this was definitely no different. The day was nice; it was fairly cloudy, but with white puffy clouds instead of those greyish storm-clouds. It was warm, but not  _too_  warm. The ocean was relatively calm as well - none of the large, crashing waves that Cheddar was spooked by. It was a perfect day to play!

A few people were milling around on the beach, wondering why four dogs - one with a Samus helmet and another with a wizard hat, nonetheless - were without a leash and running around the sand.

Daisy came up to Biscuits at this point. "Hi, I'm Daisy!"

Biscuits looked up at this point, sniffing the hem of Daisy's dress. Eventually he decided he liked Daisy, and stuck his head up to be pet. This got a coo out of the brunette princess, and she ruffled the top of his head, much to Biscuits' delight.

"What's your name, little puppy?" She smiled, kneeling down to his height. Biscuits could not respond in a language that Daisy knew, because he was a dog and only knew Borkese.

Daisy answered her own question soon enough as her hand caught on his collar. A tiny tag, in the shape of a dog bone, was attached to the red leather, the word "BISCUITS" engraved in the metal. She smiled wider and made a comment that Biscuits was such an adorable name for an adorable puppy. Biscuits was pleased at the compliment. At this point in time, Butter was in awe, because the last time he was at Smash Mansion, there was no beach, and beaches are great. The puppy started rolling around in the sand as Fluff dashed straight for the water.

The ocean was chilly, but Fluff loved it. His fur stuck to his body, tight tan curls now getting snarled and weighted with water. He started to tread deeper, the waves pulling him away from the shore and back; away and back. His little paws started to kick around, pedaling him forward like a tiny sailboat toy. The water was so bright and blue, it was so pretty. Fluff definitely could be the happiest puppy in the world at this rate.

"Puppies wanna play?" Daisy cooed, which got the attention of all four doggos real quick. Nintendog paddled out of the water, shaking himself off and zoomed to Daisy, patiently sitting down and wagging his tail. Butter and Cheddar did the same thing, and Biscuits had already taken a liking to Daisy.

Daisy pulled out a worn-out - but very well-loved - tennis ball. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, was she gonna throw it? Daisy tossed the ball forward, and all the hopes and dreams of the four dogs came true. They started chasing after the ball, yipping and jumping the whole way. Cheddar did an extra big leap and caught the ball in his mouth, swiveling around and zooming back to Daisy with a trail of very good boys behind him. Once she got the ball back, she threw it again, and they went zoomies, all over again.

This time, Fluff brought back the ball, wagging his tail the whole way back. Daisy, after Fluff set the ball down, went to throw it again before a timer on her watch started to beep. She flicked her wrist, gasping at the time.

"Wow, where did all the time go?" Daisy put the ball away. "I'm gonna be late for my matches! Sorry, puppies, but maybe we can play next time!"

Daisy started jogging to the lobby area. Oh, the matches! Camilla had to be back by now! She was probably wondering where Cheddar went! Boy, oh boy, was she going to be happy when he came back with friends. He yipped to the other three. They were gonna be so excited to meet Camilla, he was sure of it. She  _loved_  good boys like him and Fluff. Away the four went, jumping with excitement and howling. Incineroar's high-pitched yowl was soon forgotten as the four puppies bounded into the lobby, just as Camilla and Naomi finally kicked their door open.

Oh no oh no oh no, they were hurt. Camilla had a big scratch across her face, and Naomi was bruised and struggling to catch her breath. Ridley and Luigi were  _not_  forces to be underestimated, apparently. Cheddar barked in concern, and zoomed over, leaping up into Camilla's arms and started to lick the blood away. He yipped a few words of reassurance to Naomi, that he would help heal her hurt in a bit.

"Awwww, thanks, Cheddar! Who's a good boy, who's a good boy?" Camilla kept petting Cheddar. "What's with the helmet, Cheddar? What did you get up to while Naomi and I were gone, hm?"

Oh yeah, that was what Cheddar wanted to show her! He squirmed his way out of her and jumped down, trotting to the others. He was so happy to introduce her to his new friends. Naomi flounced herself down onto a nearby chair, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. She looked sleepy. Did she want to go have a nap too? Camilla followed him, and was immediately greeted by the sight of three fluffy puppies playing.

Honestly, saying that Camilla wasn't the happiest she'd been all day would be a big lie.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Good Pup Gang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #GoodPupGang for life, folks
> 
> ANYWAY, we are back up and running for Ultimate Daydream! I swear, I gotta start writing more chapters for this thing, but I've just gotten back into my Daydreamer groove, so I got over 3 chapters of THAT done. Sorry! But we're still back, and here's another chapter of Ultimate Daydream!
> 
> By the way, why don't you check out my Twitter page to see how things are plugging along? My username's AwesomeTrinket!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 8  
The Good Pup Gang**

Naomi's hand cramped up as she set her pencil down. No wonder she hated drawing, even if she was mildly good at it. She hadn't picked up a pencil to draw with in… what was it? Two years now? Ah, it didn't matter. Naomi rolled over from her stomach to her back, picking up her drawing and squinting at it like it contained the world's greatest secrets.

"Are you gonna go out or what?" Camilla looked up from Fluff and Cheddar. The two dogs were snoozing on her lap, which admittedly did look very comfortable if you were a dog. Lately Camilla had been bugging her to go out 'and meet the rest of the Smash crew," despite the fact it had maybe only been about six days since their arrival to Smash mansion. It felt like a lot longer than six days, Naomi could say that.

"Yeah, yeah. How's this look, by the way?" Naomi held the drawing, which was attached to a sign. It was basically a quick doodle of Fluff, Butter, Biscuits, Cheddar, Isabelle and the Duck Hunt Dog with his duck buddy all together, with "THE GOOD PUP GANG" written above them in big bubble letters.

Camilla sighed. She told the girl to go out of their dorm more, meet the new Smashians with her. In response, Naomi said something along the lines of 'well if I'm gonna be introducing myself, I might as well make myself memorable' and started drawing. "Whatever it takes to get yourself out there, I guess."

"Cool." Naomi swung her legs over to the side of her bed and stood up. The Good Pup Gang started off as some mildly amusing idea that popped into her head when Camilla said to go introduce herself. Naomi had started by drawing the sign as a way to put off introductions, but then it spiraled off into actually becoming a legit idea.

She could jokingly recruit everyone into the so-called 'Good Pup Gang,' and give everyone a good first impression of her.  _Yup, there goes Naomi Liu: the girl who loves dogs so much she made a gang of them and is going around recruiting people to protect these heckin' good doggos,_  they would say. Not the worst thing to be known for.

Naomi mimicked knocking on someone's door at this point, holding the sign in one hand. "Hi, I'm Naomi Liu and this is our dog Cheddar, we're Brawl veterans. What's your name? Cool, nice to meet ya. Would you like to take a moment to learn about the Good Pup Gang and what you can do to give these good boys and good girls love?"

"You're gonna do great, Naomi." Camilla nodded at her as Butter tried to jump up onto her lap. Camilla had unofficially adopted all three dogs as her own, so now Naomi and Camilla's dorm was a mess of fluff and wet noses. Naomi wasn't complaining, though. Dogs were great. "Aww, I'm sorry, Butter, but we don't have enough space up here!"

"Thanks." Naomi had a pad of paper and a pen in one pocket; to keep note of everyone she had recruited, otherwise known as had been forced to meet.

Cheddar yawned and woke up, stretching his back before hopping off Camilla's lap.

"Yo, Cheddar!" Naomi called. "Wanna come recruit people into the Good Pup Gang?"

Cheddar yipped and trotted up to Naomi's side. He was such a well-behaved dog, Naomi loved him. Her sign in hand and Cheddar by her side, Naomi ventured forth into the depths of Smash Mansion and out of the comfort of her own dorm. The hallway laid in front of her, all long and daunting. Naomi wouldn't exactly say that she had a  _fear_  of interacting with people, per se, but it made her feel super uncomfortable. Her encounter with the Belmonts didn't help with that, either.

Thankfully, for her first person, she didn't have to go to them - rather, they came to her. Naomi barely even got a step in when the Wii Fit Trainer bumped into her.

"Oh! My apologies." The Trainer hummed. She had on a blue tank top and her dark hair was tied up into a tight ponytail. She looked like she had just come back from sort of exercise routine.

"Hey, no problem." Naomi looked her over. Oh, this was a new one. "...Haven't seen you around before, by the way. I'm Naomi and this is Cheddar, we're Brawl veterans."

She stuck her free hand out. Trainer took it.

"It's nice to meet you, Naomi." Trainer smiled softly at the teenager. "I have a yoga class every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You're welcome to drop by anytime. I always love to help bring someone to the peak of fitness. Did you know that going for a 30-minute run every day can help prolong your lifespan and greatly reduce stress?"

Looked like Trainer really was living up to her title. Naomi had known a few health nuts in her life, but she had a feeling they had nothing on Wii Fit Trainer. "...Huh. No, actually, no I didn't. Thanks for the offer. Would you like to take a moment to learn about the Good Pup Gang and what you can do to give these good boys and good girls love?"

"Oh, I would love to!" Trainer perked up. "I love dogs. They're so energetic and playful. With the right trainer, they can be just as, if not more fit than humans."

Naomi made a mental note that she would get along wonderfully with Camilla. "Great! For the low, low, one-time price of one head pat for this good boy right here - " Naomi gestured towards Cheddar at this point, "- you too can become part of the Good Pup Protection Squad. You'll unlock multiple benefits, such as the love of Cheddar, all three Nintendogs, Isabelle and the Duck Hunt Dog and his bird buddy! The best part is that their love will always be on-call, whether you need a quick pick-me-up at 8 P.M. or 3 A.M. doesn't matter to these pups. Any time they are needed, they shall deliver with all the love a dog can hold. It only takes one minute to unlock your lifetime membership to the Good Pup Protection Squad. Whaddya say?"

Trainer smiled wider. "Consider me a member of your little club, then!"

She kneeled down and started to pet Cheddar. Cheddar smiled and leaned into Trainer's pets; instantly deciding that she was his newest best friend in the world.

"Well, guess we gotta get going," Naomi chuckled as Trainer stood up. "Thanks for joining the gang. Spread the word of us!"

"Good luck!" Trainer waved to Naomi and Cheddar as the two walked off to go 'recruit' more people. So that was one newcomer down. Camilla said that there had been about 32 newcomers since Brawl, not counting a few who had skipped Brawl. One down, thirty something more to go. This was gonna be...something.

* * *

_Hey Mom, you'll never believe what I have to tell you about the Good Pup Gang._

The Good Pup Gang started as a little joke to make Naomi comfortable with social interaction. It  _really_  did, and Naomi didn't expect everyone to take it seriously. To her, it was just a way to make an impression and let Cheddar get some pets. Within the hour, though, it  _blew_  up. People ate it up and gave Cheddar so many pets and Naomi so many agreements to always protect the puppers. She wasn't sure if anyone even said no to being part of the Good Pup Gang.

"We should start a Good Pup Gang merch line, Cheddar." Naomi laughed as Cheddar walked away from the petting of his lifetime, given to him by that nice Lucina girl. "T-Shirts, buttons, signs. Heck, we could even have our own slogan. 'The Good Pup Gang: Where Every Dog is a Good Dog.'"

Cheddar barked in enthusiastic agreement. She thought he just wanted more pets, and boy oh boy did he get them. A few newcomers even gave him some dog biscuits. (Those guys got an extra entire dog's worth of love from Cheddar.) Obviously Cheddar was having the time of his life. Naomi wished she could be as carefree as a dog sometimes.

 _Time to knock on another door._  Naomi went right up to the door and politely knocked twice before waiting, just as her mother taught her to do. There was a bit of shuffling on the other side, but once the door opened up, she went right into her spiel without even realizing who it was at first.

"Hi, I'm Naomi Liu and this is our dog Cheddar, we're Brawl veterans. What's your name?"

"I'm Mega Man! Friends call me Rock, though. Nice to meet you, Naomi!"

Naomi took a double take. Yep, it was  _the_  Mega Man, right in front of her. His helmet was off, exposing his messy dark hair that needed a trim, or the very least a comb-over.

" _You_  got into  _Smash?!_ " Naomi gasped. "Dude! You're - you're like my hero! Like, I played as many of your games as I could - you were just a video game character in my universe but - wow! Wow! I loved them!"

"Really?" A blush was starting to spread across Rock's face. Robots could blush? That was new to her. "I mean - am I really that popular in your world?"

"Yeah! Everyone loved your games!" Naomi tried to calm down. It didn't work too well, but it was enough. "A-anyway, I came to ask if you have a moment to learn more about the Good Pup Gang and what you can do to give these good boys and good girls love. I mean, I'm assuming you like dogs too, because... well, Rush."

"Oh! Yeah, I'd like to learn more!"

Naomi started into her spiel about how for just one head-pat Rock can also become part of the Good Pup Protection Squad. Of course Rock accepted, and of course Cheddar loved him. It was around that point that the good boy Rush came bounding out of the dorm, nearly knocking both of them over. Not that Naomi minded, and frankly, neither did Cheddar. The two dogs instantly became friends, yapping and chasing each other. Rush had a red and tan exterior made out of metal and parts, but inside he was just as much of a dog as Cheddar.

Obviously, the four had been running around a little too loudly according to the guy next door, because he slammed his own door open, startling the ever-loving stardust out of Naomi. "Would you two neanderthals keep it  _down_?!"

Naomi looked over. Some weird, anthropomorphic crocodile thingy was glaring at them. He had a big gold crown on, and one eye bulged out. She could even see the red veins near the edges of them. Yyyyyeah, this was a newcomer for her. She was pretty sure that she'd be able to remember someone like him. "Oh hey! I'm Naomi Liu, this is Cheddar. We're Brawl veterans. Wanna take a moment to learn about the Good Pup Gang and what you can do to give these good boys and good girls love?"

She held up her sign, which had been knocked out of her hand in Rush's excitement.

Crocodile king dude scoffed at her. "Why would anyone want to hear your stupid spiel about  _dogs_?!"

"Hey, don't be mean, K. Rool!" Rock whined.

Even though she didn't show it, on the inside, Naomi was hurt. She thought it was a good idea, and that it'd be funny. Who was this K. Rool guy to say that her idea sucked? "Y'know what, buddy, I think you're just jealous that you'll never have a gang as cool as mine."

K. Rool huffed and returned to his dorm, slamming the door shut again.

"Rude, much?" Naomi sighed, shaking her head.

Rock looked sad. "Don't mind King K. Rool. He's one of the newcomers, but apart from his matches he spends all his time plotting how to kill DK and Diddy..."

"Didn't plan on it. And besides, I got the Good Pup Gang." She shrugged, lifting her sign into the air. "With the love of the Good Pup Gang, all negative thoughts are neutralized and eliminated!"

This got a laugh out of Rock. "...Hey, do you have any more of those signs?"

"Oh, these?" Naomi held up hers again. "Nah. I drew it on a whim. I'll see what I can do about getting more copies. In the meantime, spread the word!"

"Will do!"

Naomi headed out again (with a bit of telling Cheddar they had to go, of course; the good boy wanted to stay and play with his new friend), leaning the Good Pup Gang's sign on her shoulder. These introductions were going by surprisingly quick. Who knew so many Smashians liked dogs? Going for a gang of good pups was the perfect icebreaker! Cheddar trotted proudly behind her, his tail wagging lazily and his head cocked up high.

K. Rool's attitude was still in mind, but not in the forefront, so it wasn't too unexpected for Naomi to be in a pretty good mood. She was already almost done with introductions now. Just another six or seven people and she could go sleep for a few hours. She started twirling her sign around like a baton in the seemingly empty hallway without a care in the world. This carefree nature was probably what ended up with her hitting some girl in the face with it.

"- Gah!" The girl yelped, clutching her cheek with one hand.

Naomi jumped as the tips of her ears started burning. "Wh- sorry, sorry, my bad! You alright?"

"Yeah, I think so..." She took her hand off her face and inspected her fingertips for any blood.

"You sure? That looked like it hurt." Her whole face was warming up now. "Sorry again, really."

"Hey, I wasn't looking where I was going!" The girl shrugged.

Naomi would have said that it was also her fault for not looking either, but decided to drop the issue. "...By the way, are you new here?"

"Oh, yeah!" She smiled. "I'm Leaf!"

"Naomi Liu." Naomi grinned as she took in Leaf's features. She looked simple enough - a brunette with big eyes and a white hat, a satchel slung over her shoulder while holding a Pokeball in her hand. "Pokemon Trainer, huh?"

"Yep!" Leaf nodded. "Ivysaur, Squirtle and Charizard! What's with the sign, by the way?"

"Oh yeah, this!" Naomi held up her Good Pup Gang sign again. She'd actually completely forgotten about it until now. "Wanna take a moment to learn more about the Good Pup Gang, and what you can do to give these good boys and good girls love?"

"Sure!"

Naomi went through her speech and ended up recruiting Leaf. That was cool.

Finally, after another half an hour of people cooing over Cheddar and introducing themselves to her, Naomi was done. She filled up three pages of names in her notepad, but she didn't care. She'd look over them later. Right now, after she finished her caramels, she was going to sleep for so long. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Oh, it was a tweet from the last person she met, Daisy. She said something about the Good Pup Gang and how Smashians needed more innocent gangs like that. That got a smile out of Naomi, but she didn't expect it to go anywhere.

* * *

When Naomi woke up that morning, the last thing she expected was to have her phone being blown up with notifications and messages. She groaned and rolled over in bed the best she could. Butter was napping on her stomach, and Camilla got  _really_  mad if Naomi ever tried to move one of the puppies if they were sleeping. It took a bit of half-awake fumbling and bleary-eyed attempts to input her PIN code, but soon enough she was in Smashverse. It wasn't  _exactly_  called that (no one really knew the official name), but the social media exclusive to Smashians was considered the spiritual successor to the previous platform, Miiverse.

Naomi snapped out of her drowsiness  _real_  quick when she realized that "#GoodPupGang" was the top trending hashtag. She started scrolling through tweets containing said hashtag, eyes getting wider with each one.

" **Lisa ( &MiitMySword): **What's with all this  **#GoodPupGang**  stuff?"

" **Pikachu ( &pikachu): **pikachu  **#GoodPupGang** "

" **Cloud ( &TheStrife):** Tag yourself with Im Butter  **#GoodPupGang** [Translated from Japanese]"

" **Rosalina ( &LumaLove): **[Replying to &MiitMySword] Naomi went around and recruited people into the  **#GoodPupGang**  yesterday! She said it was a gang consisting only of very good dogs who wanted to spread love to the world. I think it's a very sweet thing for her to do."

" **Wii Fit Trainer - Female ( &WiiRFitF):** Stretching my legs with Biscuits before we go for a morning jog!  **#GoodPupGang** " (Attached to this one was a photo of Trainer with Biscuits.)

" **Sonic ( &gottagofast): **would wolf be considered part of the  **#GoodPupGang**  or the #VillainGang, this is a very important question

\- Wait, a Villain Gang? This was new to Naomi. She clicked on Sonic's thread and started scrolling through the comments.

" **Lucas ( &KidFromNowhere):** [Replying to &gottagofast] ** &StarWolfLeader** please respond"  
" **Wolf ( &StarWolfLeader):** [Replying to &KidFromNowhere and &gottagofast] No."  
" **Archy ( &OrangeInklingGirl)**: [Replying to &gottagofast, &KidFromNowhere and &StarWolfLeader] 100% stand by my headcanon wolf is #GoodPupGang [Translated from Inkling]"

When was there a  _Villain_  Gang? The only other gang Naomi knew of besides the Good Pup Gang was Pichu Gang, but... wait a minute. Naomi backed out of Sonic's thread and the #GoodPupGang tweet. Surely enough, #VillainGang the second top trending tweet, beaten by an inch by #GoodPupGang. Naomi started scrolling through Villain Gang tweets, her mouth drawing into a tighter and tighter line with each tweet.

" **Bowser ( &worldsbestdad): **WE WILL NOT BE BEATEN BY A GANG ABOUT DOGS  **#VILLAINGANG** "

" **Bowser Jr. ( &worldsbestson): **WHY CAN'T I HAVE MY OWN DOG DAD  **#VILLAINGANG** "

" **Mr. Game and Watch ( &2DbestD): **...- .. .-.. .-.. .- .. -. / -. .- -. -."

" **Ganondorf ( &GerudoKing):** #GoodPupGang? Good disgusts me... If I HAD to participate in this nonsense, it would be with the  **#VillainGang**."

" **Dark Samus ( &DESTROYALL): **KILL THE GOOD PUP GANG  **#VILLAINGANG** "

" **Sonic ( &gottagofast):** there appears to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere in the  **#VillainGang** "

Who even started this nonsense with the Villain Gang? Naomi started scrolling, looking for any trace of the founder; even though she had an idea who it was.

" **King K. Rool ( &KremlingKing)**: We only need 1,000 more  **#VillainGang**  tweets until my gang surpasses the popularity of the dogs now!"

Of course it was K. Rool. Who did he think he was, challenging the great Naomi Liu like this? Naomi wasn't gonna stand for it. An idea popped into her head. She took a photo of herself lying in bed, Butter curled up on her belly and made her tweet.

" **Naomi ( &StardustTears): **Just woke up with Butter by my side! Glad to see how popular the  **#GoodPupGang**  has become! Every head pat these good boys and good girls receive is another pledge to the pure doggos and not the bloodthirsty villains! Remember: Every Dog is a Good Dog!"

Before she could stop herself, she attached her photo and sent the tweet. K. Rool was gonna regret the day he tried to make a rival gang to upstage Naomi, that was for sure.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Villain Gang?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good Pup Gang best gang and no one can convince me otherwise
> 
> Here we go! We got another chapter up and running, and things are great! How do you guys like the Good Pup Gang so far? Which gang are you in: #GoodPupGang or #VillainGang? This was actually gonna be part of Chapter 8, but I split it into two parts because it was getting too big to edit properly.
> 
> By the way, why don't you check out my Twitter page to see how things are plugging along/get some Ultimate Daydream scenarios I thought were funny but didn't make it into the chapters? My username's AwesomeTrinket!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**The Villain Gang?**

"It's time to get up – Naomi, what are you doing." Camilla abruptly changed subjects when she saw that the normally lazy teenager was already up, holding her Good Pup Gang sign up into the air and shouting up a storm.

She lowered her sign. "Check your Smashverse, will ya?"

It was never good when Naomi didn't want to give details. Over the chorus of Naomi yelling like she was trying to start a revolution and overthrow a government, Camilla opened up Smashverse on her own tech – a small device that made interactive holographic images. Oh boy oh boy oh boy, this was a doozy. Camilla left Naomi alone to walk Cheddar and Fluff for  _one hour_ , and this was what she got into.

" **Naomi ( &StardustTears): **Just woke up with Butter by my side! Glad to see how popular the #GoodPupGang has become! Every head pat these good boys and good girls receive is another pledge to the pure doggos and not the bloodthirsty villains! Remember: Every Dog is a Good Dog!"

Naomi's post pretty much  _exploded_  in popularity. Around a hundred Smashians and Assist Trophies had given her post a like and left comments on it. Camilla looked back at Naomi, who was now pacing back and forth with Butter trailing behind her. Camilla sighed heavily, shaking her head at Naomi as she closed Smashverse.

"Naomi, what did you do." She said this more like a statement than as a question.

"Good Pup Gang blew up. The Villain Gang surfaced up to try and one-up the good pups." Naomi explained. "So that's gonna be great to deal with."

"I'm scared to ask."

"Wanna help join the cause to make the Good Pup Gang more popular?" She turned to Camilla.

"Wh- no! I'd rather not get sucked into another one of your antics! Remember the eating contest?!  _Smash Uno_?!" Camilla threw her arms into the air. Fluff and Cheddar ran around the room together, happy as could be.

"Yes, I remember. It was literally less than a week ago." Naomi raised her sign again. "But are you just going to stand and watch as those cold-hearted  _demons_  try and slaughter all the good boys and good girls?!"

"…They're gonna what?"

"Dark Samus wants to kill the Good Pup Gang." She knew that would push Camilla's buttons and rile her up.

Camilla unstrapped her gunblade from off her back and loaded it. "…Count me in. Only madmen challenge the great Camilla Swann and her love for the dogs!"

"The Good Pup Gang shall live to pet the puppies another day!" Naomi and Camilla exploded into cheers, which made their next-door neighbor bang on the wall and yell for them to shut up.

But it was too late. Once Naomi got the ball rolling with Camilla, it didn't look like either of them was going to stop anytime soon. It took a bit of asking around, but Naomi eventually got a few copies of Good Pup Gang signs for her followers to wave around to promote the good boys and good girls. Naomi grinned profusely, thanking R.O.B. as she forked over some gold coins in exchange for the Good Pup Gang merch: signs, shirts and hats. Who knew R.O.B. was an arts and crafts/tailor person?

"Tonight, Camilla," Naomi put on her own Good Pup Gang hat as she handed Camilla a sign, "We  _fight_  the Villain Gang.

* * *

Naomi stormed into the lobby area. Today was Thursday; for some weird reason Thursdays were particularly the busiest times of the week. Cheddar, Fluff and Butter followed behind her, decked out in their own Good Pup Gang gear; hats, ridiculous vests, you name it. The lobby today was particularly busy; there were members who had expressed their approval of the Good Pup Gang and others who Naomi wasn't too sure about. Smashians looked up at Naomi as she pulled the megaphone up to her mouth and started to yell.

" _Fellow Good Pup Gang members!_ " Naomi started, " _Today, it has come to my attention that a 'Villain Gang' has surfaced up to take the attention away from the good_   _dogs!_ "

" _You heard her right!_ "Camilla began to shout into her own megaphone.  _"Bowser, Ganondorf, King K. Rool and many others seem to have gotten it into their pea-sized brains that they could create their own gang that would surpass the popularity of the Good Pup Gang!_ "

A murmur went up in the crowd.

" _And y'know what, the Villain Gang's gotten pretty popular too!_ " Naomi shrugged. " _In fact, on Smashverse the Villain Gang is only 1,000 tweets away from becoming more popular than the Good Pup Gang hashtag!_ "

Now it was Camilla's turn. " _Are you going to stand back and let these VILLAINS represent Smash Mansion?!_ "

Every Good Pup Gang member Naomi could see exploded into cheers of "NO!" and "GOOD PUP GANG FOR LIFE!"

" _Then JOIN US on our crusade!_ " Naomi screamed, throwing Good Pup Gang shirts in the air. Oh well; she had more than enough to make up for it. " _Every new member to the Good Pup Gang gets a free shirt!_ "

People started going nuts at this point, making a mad dash for the shirts and yelling about the Good Pup Gang. How people suddenly went nuts over the Good Pup Gang so suddenly was a mystery to Naomi, but did she mind? Not really. The Good Pup Gang has arisen, and together they shall bury the Villain Gang like a wave. Smashians started getting called up for their matches. Naomi knew that her first one would be in a few minutes at this point, so she had to make these last few minutes last.

" _I want everyone who has a match against anyone in the Villain Gang to fight them as hard as you can! It is safe to assume that anyone who is currently a known villain in their universe has joined the Villain Gang!_ " Naomi finished off by pumping her fist in the air and yelling " _FOR THE GOOD PUP GANG!_ "

The chorus of cheers was deafening. Camilla turned to Naomi as the two of them shut off their megaphones.

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" She asked.

"Well, it's a bit late to ask now," was Naomi's reply.

Naomi's name was called out. Looked like it was matches time. Naomi hadn't even had a moment to look at who she was fighting today, so the identity of her current opponent was a total mystery to her. No matter! With the power of the Good Pup Gang by her side, she'd be able to defeat anyone, even if they were a villain!

...Nah. Naomi got her butt kicked  _hard_  by Ridley. She got speared. Surprisingly, she didn't die from this, but it still hurt. Naomi needed Dr. Mario. And comfort food. Naomi groaned as she was literally thrown out of the stage generator and into the lobby, landing near Camilla's feet.

"...Note to self: never taunt Ridley." Naomi muttered into the floor.

The Ravinan winced at the sight of all the injuries on Naomi. Even with Ravinan tech and Naomi's uncanny ability to bounce back real quick from injuries, it was going to take a while for  _this_  to heal. "You need any help?"

"Nah, I'm just...gonna stay here. On the floor."

Camilla sighed. "What did you even do to him?"

"Tried to fight him for the Good Pup Gang. Called him a brick on a stick. Turns out he doesn't like being called that." Naomi rolled over onto her back and sat up. "How'd your match go?"

"Mm, could've been worse." Camilla loaded the gunblade again. "Fought that Richter guy. You know, axe g-"

"Yes, Camilla. I remember." Naomi pulled out another bag of marshmallows and started tearing into them. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the taste of the sugary treats, to take her mind off the pain blossoming through her side. She felt Camilla tug her onto her feet, only for her body to decide 'nope' and collapse back down to the ground. She really hoped Ridley hadn't torn her wings. They always took the longest to recover.

Naomi decided to change the subject. "How's the Good Pup Gang doing?"

"Oh, it's going great!" Camilla was probably grinning at this point. Naomi opened one eye. "Everyone's talking about us. Apparently, some Villain Gang members even got destroyed in their matches thanks to you!"

"Wish  _Ridley_ 'd been one of them." Naomi groaned, closing her eye again.

Naomi heard Samus's voice at this point, coming from an external speaker on her helmet. "You and me both, Naomi."

"Hey, Samus."

"Hey, Naomi," Samus said. "You know, you and Camilla are all that anyone can talk about today."

Naomi opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What're they saying?"

"Just stuff about the Good Pup Gang. Pichu's actually announced her support of the gang a few minutes ago."

Well, that was interesting. It wasn't every day that the leader of one gang supported another. That was cool, though. Was this what it felt like to have a popular fanfiction? Naomi didn't know; she'd never been much of a writer at any age. Come to think of it, she wasn't too sure  _what_ her passion in life was before becoming a  _jiang-shi_.

"Huh." Naomi sat up. "Wanna join, by the way? You don't even have to pay the initiation fee anymore."

"Sure, why not." Samus was called out on the speaker system. "...That's my cue. Got a doubles match with Snake."

"Take care." Naomi waved as Samus went through a door. At this point, the teenager was sitting on one of the chairs, chowing down on her marshmallows. The pain was a  _little_  better now, but it still hurt.

* * *

Bowser got word of Naomi and Camilla recruiting everyone in the lobby, apparently. When the vampire stomped into the buffet area to get some post-matches food, the last thing she expected to see was the Koopa King waving around his own Villain Gang sign, roaring about whether or not the Smashians wanted to support  _wimpy dogs_  or  _awesome villains_.

Looked like most people were ignoring him, but a few others seemed interested. There goes her plans of eating as many burgers as she was allowed to have. For now, the Good Pup Gang needed her.

"Trying to resort to name-calling, huh, Bowser?" She called out on her megaphone. She'd been carrying that around with her everywhere ever since the lobby incident. Unfortunately, she didn't have her sign with her; having opted to leave it behind during her matches, after what happened with Ridley. It'd been best to calm down, take a breath, and just focus on her matches. "Low blow, bud. Even for you."

All eyes were on her now. Naomi took a breath and screamed over Bowser, who was trying to shout over her. " _Sure, everybody, the villains maaaay be significantly more 'awesome' or 'cooler' than dogs, but what price do they pay for that? That's right, it's right in their title - VILLAINS! They're EVIL! Everyone who supports the Villain Gang supports the worst of the worst!_ "

People started to mumble to themselves. Though the buffet was still open, there were surprisingly few Smashians in there, so their attention was clearly divided between Naomi and Bowser.

"Listen to this stupid girl! She's supporting a gang of  _dogs!_ " Bowser snarled.

Naomi fired back, "At least our dogs have never wanted to take over the world or  _steal the princess!_ "

" _Peach is MINE!_ "

"IF SHE WERE, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO KIDNAP HER!"

" _QUIET, VAMPIRE!_ " K. Rool barged in all of a sudden. Naomi hissed at him and jumped onto a table, flapping her wings for the extra boost. "I think we  _all_  know who's the superior gang here, and that's the  _Villain Gang!_ "

"Oh yeah? How can  _you_  tell?!" Naomi pointed the megaphone straight at K. Rool now. Some Smashians blocked their ears at how loud she was becoming. Naomi hoped she deafened K. Rool. "Did you run any polls in Smash Mansion, asking if everyone liked the Good Pup Gang or the Villain Gang more?"

"...Well, no, but-"

"That doesn't matter!" Bowser looked as if he were on the verge of spewing flames at Naomi. "If it weren't for your stupid gimmick yesterday, no one would even care about the dogs!"

Naomi blared her airhorn. "How'zabout we settle this, then? The Good Pup Gang versus the Villain Gang! Whoever can get more members for their gang after one week can be considered the best gang!"

"You're on, child!" K. Rool pointed a bony, scaly claw at her. "Maybe then you'll see that the  _villains_  are the best in town!"

"You hear that, everybody?" Naomi turned to the audience, who were all staring at her. Even Kawasaki popped out of the kitchen to see what the hullabaloo was all about. "Starting this Thursday, we're going to see which gang is more popular! Will you join me on our quest to show that the good dogs deserve the love and support, or will you go for the  _villains?_ "

A good amount of Smashians erupted into cheers.

This was gonna be great.

_Hey Mom; hypothetically, if you were in a gang of good dogs, how would you defeat your rival gang of villains within one week or less? You know, just a "what if" scenario._


	10. Chapter 10 - Results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the original opening author's note for this was "due to time constraints (aka writer jargon for "i suck at time management") this is unfortunately a shorter chapter than normal" but it ended up at over 3,200 words, which is still above the average word count per chapter of this fic
> 
> So after this chapter I've decided to take a break from Ultimate Daydream for a few weeks to collect my thoughts and ideas. Don't worry, though; I'll still be writing other fanfic stuff/Daydreamer itself. Besides, I'll be back before you know it! I just wanna say thanks for over 1,000 views on The Ultimate Daydream! It really does mean a lot to me!
> 
> In the meantime, why not follow my Twitter to make sure I'm still alive or something? The username is AwesomeTrinket! I also recently uploaded my design for Camilla there, so if you wanna put a face to her character, make sure to head on over and check out the May 25th 2019 tweet.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

 

**Chapter 10  
Results**

_Friday Morning_

"My people need me!" Naomi threw her blankets off herself as Cheddar pawed at her face. Naomi hardly slept that night; kept up by the Good Pup Gang. Camilla was already up and about; having taken Fluff out for an early-morning pee. Naomi snorted, spitting a loose strand of hair out of her mouth that had been slicked and stuck to her tongue from saliva. No time to wait! She had to  _recruit!_

The girl swept up some random blouse and skirt from her backpack before grabbing her Good Pup Gang sign. "Cheddar, you still remember those tricks Camilla taught you?"

Cheddar barked in response.

"Good," Naomi pulled her blouse down over her head. "You're gonna need them."

What area were the most people in at earlier than 8 A.M...? Naomi was always the heavy sleeper, so she didn't get up unless thrown awake by Camilla - or, before she created the Good Pup Gang, if she somehow managed to wake up on her own by some miraculous force of nature, got up no earlier than noon. A morning person, Naomi had not been.

Well, there was only one way to find out what people did at some insane time in the morning. Naomi yawned  _hard_ , somewhat paranoid that if she yawned any more her mouth would split from ear-to-ear. Reminded her of that one Chinese tale of the slit-mouthed woman; y'know, the one who died by getting her mouth slit ear-to-ear after her husband caught her cheating and now went around with a surgical mask on asking people if she was pretty. Man, Chinese mythologies were  _brutal_.

As it turned out, Naomi wasn't the first person to try and get up early to recruit people into her gang. As she started walking out into the hallway, two small children nearly knocked her over while running.

"Move it, vampire!" One of them snapped. He had a lisp.

Naomi spluttered as she got back to her feet. Cheddar circled her a few times to make sure she was okay. "Yo, I was here first, dude!"

"Oh, ignore her, Iggy!" The other trilled.

Iggy. That was a familiar name. Naomi took in the two children, who were speeding down the hallway. Oh, they were two of Bowser's kids; the Koopalings. More specifically, the two brothers Iggy and Lemmy Koopa. Lemmy rolled forward on his traditional neon yellow ball, while Iggy piloted an actual hoverboard that Naomi was pretty sure he made - yes, a board that actually floated, instead of those stupid "hoverboard" things on wheels Earth had gotten in, what, 2015? If Camilla were here, she'd probably scoff and say that Ravinan tech was  _soooo_  much better. But alas, it was just Naomi.

...They had Villain Gang signs in their hands.

"Join the Villain Gang! Don't let thothe dogth win!"

"Join the Villain Gang! We have cookies!"

"Villain Gang! Villain Gang! Villain Gang! Villain Gang!"

"Wh- hey!" Naomi ran up to the group, clutching her sign in hand. "Why are y'all so up early in the morning!"

Lemmy squinted at her, before suddenly gasping. "Hey! Iggy! Isn't that overgrown mosquito the founder of the  _Dogs_  Gang?"

The way he said " _dogs_ " was similar to how you would say " _dead rats._ "

"It  _ith!_ " Iggy gasped. "Leth eat her or thomething!"

"Why would we want to  _eat_ her -"

"Tryna pull one over ol' Naomi Liu, huh?" Naomi twirled her own sign like an umbrella. "Well, you're gonna have to get up a lot earlier than that!"

Naomi knew how childish and petty it was, but she kicked Iggy's hoverboard and Lemmy's ball out from under them as she then dashed ahead, snapping her wings open. Cheddar eagerly followed his best friend, though not before stopping for a second to see if he could fit Lemmy's ball in his mouth. It was too big. The two kids howled and dropped their signs.

"Join the Good Pup Gang for a never-ending supply of love and tail wags!" Naomi shouted over the cries of the Koopalings. "The Villain Gang lies! They have no cookies! Even if they did, they would be poisonous!"

A surprising amount of people started cheering for the Good Pup Gang.

"Don't forget to vote for the Good Pup Gang on Wednesday night!"

* * *

 

_Saturday Brunch_

Roy Koopa thumped his fist down on the table, spilling bright red Gatorade all over it.

"Ex- _cuse_  you!" Naomi hissed as she picked up her now almost-empty Gatorade bottle.

The pink and yellow Koopaling glared at her from behind his sunglasses. "I heard about yesterday with my brothers."

"Hey, go away, Roy!" Ness whined, waving his arms around.

Kirby chimed in with a "poyo!"

"Oh, you mean those bullies?" Naomi glared right back, sipping what was left of her drink while staring Roy Koopa in the eye. At least, where she was  _pretty_  sure was the eye - again, sunglasses. "Yeah, they were trying to cheat. False advertisement, for one thing. I'm fairly sure the Villain Gang  _doesn't_  have cookies."

"You still had no right to knock them down like that!" Roy Koopa pointed a claw at her, voice getting progressively louder.

"They started it!" Naomi threw the bottle down. "If I recall correctly, Iggy was the one who pushed  _me_  down, saying, and I quote, 'Move it, vampire!'"

"Blah, blah, blah!" Roy Koopa probably rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Morton, c'mere!"

Sonic groaned as the other Koopaling came up to Roy Koopa's side, "Hey, come on, Ness's right! I just wanna enjoy my food!"

"Oh yeah? You wanna fight for it?!" Morton hissed. That...that didn't even make any sense.

"Honestly, bud, I would have an insult ready for you," Naomi raised an eyebrow at Morton, "but I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain it after."

"What?" He didn't even get it. This was  _glorious_.

Roy Koopa was definitely offended at this point. "She just called you dumb!"

"Me?! Dumb?!"

Naomi grinned. She had so many of these kinds of insults at the ready. "Yep. I dunno what makes you so stupid, but it 's  _certainly_  working."

Sonic erupted into laughter, unable to hold it in anymore. Roy and Morton cracked their knuckles, ready to fight Naomi at this point.

"You're on thin ice, Naomi!" Morton's voice lowered to a growl that would be intimidating if Naomi wasn't having an absolute blast with the comebacks. She wished Camilla was here with her. The Ravinan would be proud.

"I'm surprised you know what thin ice  _means_."

"Come on, Naomiiii..." Ness looked down at his tray. He really didn't want to see another fight break out.

"Poyo!"

Naomi thought about it. Was it  _really_  worth it to get into a fight with Roy and Morton Koopa? Honestly, no, not really. What did she have to win or prove at this point? Nothing; that was what. She glanced down at her sandwiches; chicken and bacon. Her stomach growled, and she wanted to eat; not get into some stupid fight over who shoved who.

"Y'know what? Ness is right. I'd rather not stoop to your levels," Naomi picked up a sandwich and took a bite. "So, see ya."

"Yeah, that's right; let your friends do all the work for you so you can cry to your mommy!" Roy Koopa laughed. "Oh wait, that's right:  _You don't have one._ "

The whole table went silent at this point. Naomi froze in her spot for what felt like hours, before finally regaining control of her senses.

"Alright," She set her sandwich down. "Now it's personal."

Ness and Kirby jumped up and ran to get Master Hand as Naomi suddenly decked Roy Koopa and then Morton in the face before grabbing her shuriken.

_Mom, I did something terrible today. Roy Koopa made a comment about you and I punched him in the face._

* * *

 

_Tuesday Evening_

"You still think I did the right thing there?" Naomi touched the bandages on her ribs where Dr. Mario applied them.

Camilla shrugged, "Well, of course! They're the ones who said the comment about Cassandra."

"Well yeah, but I'm the one who punched them." Naomi was lying on her bed, bandaged up from her fight with Roy and Morton Koopa - and later, more of the Koopalings. When Master Hand was brought to them, Naomi was on the verge of rage-filled tears as she repeatedly kicked down Roy Koopa, swatted Ludwig in the face with her Good Pup Gang sign, and swung her shuriken at Larry. Wendy was on the ground having a tantrum because she got kicked in the face, and Morton was punching Naomi  _really_  hard. Honestly, she hadn't even felt the impacts because of the adrenaline; but apparently Morton broke one of her ribs.

Also apparently, Sonic was trying to break it up but for once, he was too slow.

"That is besides the point!" Camilla picked up Cheddar and held him in her arms, petting the top of his head as she did so. The good boy approved of this love. "Anyway, everyone's talking about you now. "The Good Pup Gang versus the Villain Gang," they're saying."

"Super Smash Bros Civil War, am I right?" Naomi chuckled. "Thanks again for recruiting for me, by the way."

"No problem!" Camilla gave her a two-fingered salute. Due to her less than spectacular injuries thanks to Morton and the Koopalings, Naomi had been strictly instructed to not run around or get into matches for a few days. This meant she was exempt from matches until she healed, but also that she couldn't recruit people into the Good Pup Gang. Thankfully, Camilla had stepped up for her. And besides, Naomi was just grateful for Dr. Mario, his two PhDs (yes, two) and Smash Mansion's healing tech that rivaled the likes of the Ravinans. Without it, she'd probably be bedridden for...what? A month? Two months? She didn't know.

Naomi thought about her mom. She missed her. She really did.

* * *

 

_Wednesday Morning_

Naomi woke up at 3 A.M. and remembered her rib was broken.

Stupid Koopalings breaking her ribs so she couldn't go and recruit people herself for the Good Pup Gang's cause, stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid-

Naomi passed out again in rage.

* * *

 

_Wednesday Afternoon_

Naomi was covered in sweat as her eyes snapped open. What time was it...? She fumbled on the nightstand for her phone, eyes widening as she realized it was 2:30 P.M. She only had eight and a half hours left to get out there and advertise! Broken rib or not, she was going to get up and recruit people into the Good Pup Gang, whether the Koopalings liked that or not. The room was silent; Camilla had her last match of the day and Cheddar happily followed along, while the three Nintendogs were busy giving moral support.

She sat up and threw her legs off the side of the bed. Her Good Pup Gang sign rested at the foot. There were suspicious amounts of blood on the corners, probably from where she whacked Ludwig.  _No time to muse!_  She shook her head to clear the thoughts. Dressed and ready to go. Naomi practically kicked her dorm's door open and started walking at a very brisk pace. Of  _course_  Morton had to break a rib of all things. Dr. Mario advised her not to open her wings until the ribs fully healed, considering that the sack-like organ where her body kept her wings was pretty close to the broken rib.

At some point during the first few days, most of the Smashians had gotten wind of the Good Pup Gang versus the Villain Gang, so something else was tacked on to Naomi and K. Rool's original agreement - on Wednesday night, a voting poll would open in the library, and everyone would write down which gang they supported. The winner's leader would earn an amount of gold that Wario tried to steal once he heard how much it was.

The hallways were teeming with members of both gangs. Good Pup Gang signs were held up proudly in the air, the holders shouting for everyone to join the Good Pup Gang; unlike the Villain Gang, they supported a noble and adorable cause. Villain Gang members tried to shout over the Good Pup Gang; trying every tactic in the book that they could think of. Posters supporting the Villain Gang, bashing the Good Pup Gang or vice versa were tacked up on the walls. Who even had all the time to design all those posters?

Everyone was here.

" _Fellow Good Pup Gang members!_ " Naomi cheered. The nearby members gasped and turned to her. She probably knew what they were thinking.  _That's Naomi Liu, our great leader! How could the Koopalings_ do  _such a thing to her?!_  "As you all may know, almost a full week ago I suffered injuries for our cause! But that's okay; because tonight, we will show these bloodthirsty  _villains_  that these good boys and good girls will top them!"

The Villain Gang tried to shout over her. Naomi just shouted louder.

"But I can't do it without your help!" She pointed at all her loving members of the Good Pup Gang. "I know you've been doing all you can to get as many members to vote for the Good Pup Gang, and I do appreciate that! Really, I do! But we must not back down! We must shift into  _maximum overdrive!_  The very fate of the Good Pup Gang depends on it!"

Everyone started to roar; whether in support or rage depended on who was in what gang.

* * *

 

_Thursday Morning_

_7 A.M.,_  Naomi thought to herself.  _The time has come._

She couldn't sleep at all last night, what with the hubbub about the Good Pup Gang versus the Villain Gang. If she won, she would easily be able to pay off the damages that Smash Uno and the Kirby Experiment had caused. Her revenue from Good Pup Gang merchandise was already making steady dents in their debt, but with the reward money, it would be a cinch. Camilla had apparently been restless all night as well, considering how she was pacing back and forth. Naomi couldn't remember the last time Camilla paced like that.

"Today, Camilla," Naomi said as she swept her hair up into a ponytail on the side, "We are gonna pay off those debts."

Camilla scoffed. "How can you be so certain?"

"I can feel it in my bones."

"That's not a good excuse!" Camilla huffed. "Remember the  _last time_  you said that?"

"Yes, Camilla. I remember."

Naomi checked her phone as she opened up the door. Smashverse was buzzing with excitement about who won what and would the Good Pup Gang win? There was only one way to find out now. Naomi started walking, calling for Camilla to follow her because  _it was time_. The auditorium was packed to the brim with people; Smashians and Assist Trophies alike. Usually, the auditorium was used to announce important news, such as a fighter leaving, but it seemed Master Hand had made the exception this one time. The Good Pup Gang erupted into cheers as Naomi and Camilla started to walk down the auditorium to find a seat. A red carpet had been rolled out for whichever leader was the winner.

The white, disembodied hand floated up to the podium, thumping a finger onto the wood to grab everyone's attention. "Fellow fighters and Assist Trophies! We have gathered here today to settle this age-old - well, week-old - question: Which gang is superior?"

The Good Pup Gang side started chanting the mantra of every dog being a good dog. Villains hurled empty coffee cups at them. Master Hand thumped his finger on the table again to silence the gangs.

"Well, I can see that you're all clamoring for the answer, so I will get straight to the point! The winner is..."

"...Plant Gang!"

"HA!" K. Rool cheered, jumping up with a trumpet in his hand. A few other villains leaped to their feet as well, and together they all started blasting K. Rool's theme,  _Gangplank Galleon_  (which he supposedly composed himself) for about ten seconds, before realizing who actually won. The trumpet clattered out of his claws, as Naomi scrunched her eyebrows in utter confusion.  _Plant Gang_? This was literally the first time Naomi had ever heard of a Plant Gang. Was there even a plant-themed fighter?

An outrage exploded from the Villain Gang, while the Good Pup Gang was just...confused. There was a hopping/scraping noise on the red carpet. Naomi turned to see a large flowerpot near the entrance. Coming from that pot was a large red plant with leaves for hands. It had a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth and was wearing sunglasses for some reason.

"Piranha Plant, please come up to the stage for your prize!" Master Hand boomed. Naomi looked back at Master Hand - wait, wasn't he supposed to be a  _right_ hand? The left hand was...

"Crazy Hand?!" Naomi stood up all of a sudden. "Wh - I thought Master Hand was the one behind this event!"

"Ohhh, no, no, no! He doesn't know a thing about this!" Crazy Hand flapped his...well, hand. "By the way, the leader of the Plant Gang, Piranha Plant, is our newest fighter, so let's all give him a warm welcome!"

Confused clapping rang out as Piranha Plant was given an impressive amount of gold. The Villain Gang began to start a riot. Honestly, Naomi wanted to join them and would have if she hadn't been so confused.

 


	11. Chapter 11 - The Ultimate Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me in c10: So after this chapter I've decided to take a break from Ultimate Daydream for ***a few weeks*** to collect my thoughts and ideas. Don't worry, though; I'll still be writing other fanfic stuff/Daydreamer itself. Besides, I'll be back before you know it!
> 
> also me: -straight up abandons this fic for a little less than two months-
> 
> I'm REALLY sorry, guys! I just haven't had the motivation to write for a while now. It's not just Ultimate Daydream, though. It was EVERYTHING. It was like the creative gears in my head saw the summer and went "nope" and shut down. I've been trying to get the writing back up and running, but you can't wait for inspiration. You just have to sit down and gruel it out, which is why I'm here.
> 
> Why not check out my Twitter in the meantime? I'm trying to be a lot more active there, and I talk about a bunch of stuff. The username's AwesomeTrinket.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 11  
The Ultimate Nightmare**

...How? How did this all happen?

The world was supposed to be saved, wasn't it? After Subspace Emissary and all? Naomi and Camilla were around for that. They joined the battle somewhat late; after Princesses Peach and Sheik (whom Naomi later learned was simply a disguise for Zelda) fell from the sky. From there, they'd been with the rest of the Smashians, trekking through endless creatures of darkness, being lost and then saved in the Great Maze, and eventually all coming together to take down Tabuu, once and for all.

It was supposed to end after that. Yet, here Naomi stood at this cliff, the wind whipping at her hair; shuriken in hand and wings snapped open. To the left of her was Camilla, the white and pink gunblade resting against her shoulder and Cheddar by her side. They were not alone, no; everyone was here now. Marth, Snake, Pit, Mario, Luigi, you name it; even the villains had put aside their bitter rivalries with the protagonists and stood together, like soldiers in Ravina's R.I.B.B.O.N. force. At the edge of the cliff stood Fox, his Blaster pointed at the sky.

"Don't let a single one get away!" He cried out, and Naomi felt her grip on her shuriken tighten.

The cloudy sky was dotted by... Master Hands? Hundreds of thousands of copies of the omniscient right-hand floated in the air, fingers aimlessly curling and uncurling. Naomi's heart thumped in her chest, and suddenly she found it difficult to breathe. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. That's right. Stay calm. Panic never did any good for anyone. That much Naomi had learned in her travels through space. A being with wings made out of light so bright, beautiful and colorful floated in the center of this chaos. Tabuu, perhaps? Naomi couldn't get a good enough look at them. Those wings looked a lot like Naomi's, though (with the exception of them being a swirl of reds, blues and purples); Tabuu's had been more sleek and graceful, like a butterfly's wings.

"We will each need to take down about ten," Marth remarked.

Ten. Just ten. Naomi fought more Amber Night Stalkers than that on a regular basis! The average was about twelve! It was going to be okay! This would be a cinch!

"Stow your fear!" Zelda added on, "It's now or never!"

Pit cried out, "We'll win this. I know we will!"

It was gonna all be okay, right? After all, they had the best of the best fighters, ready to duel until their final breath. They would all be okay in the end. This weird curse would break, and they'd all be able to go back to Smash Mansion and resume their normal activities,  _right?_ Naomi hoped desperately so. Her heart pulsed through the tips of her ears now, unbearably loud and sending waves of heat through her.  _Wuh-bump. Wuh-bump. Wuh-bump._ It was all going to be just peachy-keen.

The hands started to disintegrate, right before Naomi's eyes. They all crumbled away like a piece of burnt paper, revealing a glowing blue light inside each and every one of them. The light began to trail back to the winged creature in the air, connecting into the core of that thing. It was glowing now, becoming brighter and brighter. It reminded Naomi of a dying star, moments before its explosion. Near the front of the cliff, near Fox, Shulk gasped and turned back to the others to face them.

Okay, now the glowing wing demon was a black hole. This was definitely  _not_  going to be fine.

And then the black hole exploded into beams of light, coming  _straight for the Smashians._

The initial reactions were to fight back. Link held his shield out, swinging away at the light with his sword, but it was all too fast for even Naomi to see, and it overwhelmed him; enveloping him in the light, and he was gone. Samus had her armor equipped and tried to shoot a few blasts at the light, but it was useless, and soon enough she succumbed to the same fate as Link. Zelda and Mewtwo were the next two to go, the both of them disintegrating one after another even after using their reflection spells.

There was no way to win.

_There was no way to win._

THERE WAS NO WAY TO WIN.

Camilla was the first to break the silence, " _RUN!_ "

She didn't have to tell Naomi twice; she flapped her wings once, folded them up a bit and shot through the air in the opposite direction, speeding down the cliff as quickly as she could. In the corner of her eye was Sonic - all of a sudden she regretted not being nicer to him while she still had the chance - and how he sped away from everybody else. Pikachu struggled to keep up, and that was where Sonic made his mistake; slowing down to help Pikachu. He was caught in the light, and as Naomi gasped and held out her hand to Sonic, he was gone as well.

"SONIC!" Naomi couldn't help the scream that ripped out of her throat. She changed direction, dipping down and to the left at this point. She didn't stop to look back to see if the light was gaining on her. There was no time to do anything except  _run_ , exerting as much effort and force as she could. What happened to those who were caught in the light? Were they dead? Naomi didn't want answers to that. This was how she was going to die, wasn't she? She already had a brief encounter with death when she was 14. She laughed in its face and became a  _jiang-shi_  because of the truck that plowed into the family car. Now death was coming again to get her, stronger than ever. Naomi wasn't even legally an adult yet! She was only seventeen!

As she watched Red use all three Pokemon (and even Bowser joined in) to fight back and promptly get demolished, Naomi couldn't help herself.  _Red used Triple Finish! It wasn't very effective..._

Was it wrong to be cracking jokes at a moment like this?

Gone. Gone gone gone gone gone. Everyone was disappearing, one after another. There went Captain Falcon, then Lucario and Greninja, the Inklings, and Falco. Paletuna (despite her best efforts to protect herself), which caused the death of Pit and Dark Pit; oh, Snake was gone, too. That was a lot of ash he left behind. Naomi was exhausted and knew far too well that she wasn't gonna be able to fly for much longer. A howl pierced through Naomi's panic. Turn to the right, and there was Cheddar, having gotten separated from Camilla somehow.  _NO._ Not Cheddar. The light could kill everyone it wanted, but he was just a puppy. He didn't deserve it. Naomi dived down to grab him but was beat by Camilla, who practically flew herself and held onto him, gunblade since abandoned. The light got the both of them.

_"Colors weave into a spire of flame..."_

Naomi couldn't,  _didn't want to_ , keep herself up anymore and collapsed to the ground, her wings screaming in pain. She rolled onto her back, panting heavily. At some point she'd dropped her shuriken so she could fly faster, but frankly she couldn't care less. If she was going to die, she was going to die looking at the sky. The sunset was beautiful. She could see hints of stars here and there and wondered if her mom was on any of them. Camilla once told her that sometimes, what looked like stars were actually planets.

Mom.

_I'm sorry, Mom._

_"Distant sparks call to a past still unnamed..."_

A Warp Star shot through the sky, Kirby clinging desperately onto it as if his life depended on it, which in his defense it did. Naomi couldn't believe it, but he was actually outrunning the beams of light! He was making it! He was actually gonna make it! Naomi laid on the ground, a smile curling on her face and tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

_Dad, I'm coming._

_"Bear this torch against the cold of the night..."_

The light took her at this point. It was a blinding flash, and then a strange itching sensation all over her body, in places Naomi didn't even know existed. Before she blacked out, she remembered one last thought floating through her head.

_Go, Kirby, go._

_"Search your soul and reawaken the undying light!"_

* * *

Weightless. Daroach didn't realize how much he disliked not having a body until now, when he was floating off in some pit of darkness. Not having a body meant that he couldn't grab gold and treasures all for himself. Where were the Squeaks? Bet they all had bodies right about now. He knew he'd be given another form; a clone of some girl. What was her name? Natalie? Ah, whatever, he'd figure it out when he got the form.

Suddenly the weightless feeling dropped and he was standing on cold linoleum. This was  _weird._  Really, really weird. He felt…tall. Way taller than he was used to. Hold the paws out, look down. Scratch that, they weren't paws. They were hands. Human hands, at that, like Adeleine. So Natalie/whatever her name was was a human. She had small, slender, flexible fingers. Blue nail polish peeled from the enamel. He wondered what it would feel like to grip a gold medal in these hands, or to feel the cold rush of a priceless diamond cut into her palm.

Did this body usually wear a hat? Man, what he wouldn't give to have a hat to dramatically tip right about now. Reach up, feel the human girl's face. Let's see here, there were the eyes, the nose, strands of thick black hair – wow, Whatshername had a lot of hair – small human mouth and  _NAOMI_ ; that was her name. Naomi Liu. Weird last name, but hey, he might as well get used to it. And besides, she seemed like a Naomi person, with what felt like a metric ton of hair, a frame that was large for Daroach and…what was  _this?_

There was something stuck to her forehead, in between Naomi's eyebrows. He pulled it off to check it out. It was a small strip of paper, heavy in his (her?) hand with what looked like chicken scratch all over it. Oh, no, never mind, it was a language. Something Oclanian. How'd he know that? He still wasn't used to the whole "my spirit is living in the mindless clone of someone, wow" thing, so maybe it was something that came built-in with the body as a whole package.

Daroach dropped his new arm to the side. It felt so weird having an arm as long as this, all bone and practically no joint. He looked around at this point, and realized he wasn't the only one here. Hundreds of fighters stood around him, staring out into the empty darkness. Their eyes…glowed. They were bright red, like perfectly polished rubies catching the glint of the sunlight. Daroach wondered if his new body's eyes were glowing as well.

But there was no time to wonder about that.

This was gonna be  _great._


	12. Chapter 12 - Saving the World and Other Inconveniences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We now return to your regularly scheduled Ultimate Daydream chapter, please don’t yell at me for being an idiot and forgetting to Ultimate Daydream for a few months now
> 
> I’ve gotten into Final Fantasy 7 recently (just finished the part with Cait Sith being a solly-saggin’ sack of sticks about the Keystone and me not even liking him like why are you like this Cait Sith you literally just barged into my team without asking), and because I usually tend to go all or nothing with my obsessions, now I’m peeved about the COMPLETE lack of FF7 representation in Smash. Like, Ultimate has Cloud, Advent Children Cloud, Midgar, the battle theme, and the boss theme. That’s it. Direct rips from the PS1 too. They didn’t even put One-Winged Angel or Crazy Motorcycle Chase in!
> 
> If you like my stuff, why not check out my Twitter for Ultimate Daydream memes, FF7 rambles and other stuff? The username’s AwesomeTrinket!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

 

**Chapter 12** **  
** **Saving the World and Other Inconveniences**

With his spirit friends in tow, Kirby went to save his friend Mario from the clutches of Galeem.

“Poyoooooo!” Kirby squealed, speeding on ahead with one arm (paw?) in the air. Galeem had already made mindless clones of Mario and a few other of his friends and placed the spirits of his newest friends: a Smoky Progg, an Eevee, and a little red and white owl named Celeste. But it was okay! He’d save Mario from mean ol’ Galeem and then they could save the world together and go eat something. Kirby was still hungry…

Eventually Kirby found Mario; eyes closed and bound up by a strange blue light that radiated with evil energy. Not Mario! Kirby gasped softly at the sight of his old friend in the hands of Galeem, to be used to create mindless clones of him for Spirits to fight in. He already freed a few of his spirit buddies from that.

“Poyo!” Kirby squeaked at Mario, trying to get him to wake up. He had to save his buddy! Mario did not even flinch or react in any way, shape or form to Kirby waving his arms around in a desperate attempt to grab his attention. To be honest, Kirby was starting to get desperate, and then Mario’s eyes snapped open, glowing red, just like the bodies that Kirby’s spirit friends had been in.

The tiny pink boy let out a “kyuu!” noise at Mario, as if telling him to snap out of it. The light that bound him suddenly disappeared, and Mario was free to move. The power of Galeem was an override to his free will, though, and there was nothing else that Kirby could do but to fight him to free him from Galeem’s control.

_ Vs. Mario! _

The world around them cleared, revealing one of the areas that the Smashians used to fight in sometimes, before Galeem came into the picture and started to wreak havoc. Kirby recognized this place as Final Destination; the platform that floated in space and time. He always loved this place and how it would always fill him with awe at the beautiful scenery that changed as the fight went on. It seemed only fitting he saved his best friend here in this place.

Mario started to hurl fireballs at Kirby, who started running towards Mario as fast as he could. Oh, he hoped Mario would forgive him for this. An epic fight of destiny between Mario and Kirby, the two best fighters of their respective universes, was about to rage, and it would go down in history as– 

Kirby inhaled as hard as he could, sucking Mario in with one breath. He thrashed around a bit in his mouth, but it was too late; he was already charging to the edge of the platform and launched himself right off, falling through the stars. Right as he was at the point between life and death, he spat Mario out and started flapping his arms with a gulp of air in his mouth to make him float. 

…Well, Kirbycide is considered an unorthodox way to win, but the author supposes that works.

_ Victory! _

Mario died a practically instant death at this point, and their surroundings reverted back to normal. Kirby waddled his way over to his unconscious friend, poking gently at his nose and mustache to get him up while making tiny “poyo” noises with each poke. Eventually, Mario stirred and woke up, sitting up and rubbing his head. Kirby had ended up doing a number on him from the Kirbycide, but it got the job done.

“Hiii!” Kirby cooed, waving one arm at Mario.

Underneath the famous red hat (which had been replaced by his pal Cappy from his previous odyssey), Mario’s head throbbed. He could distinctly remember being taken by the light, being captured by Galeem, and then… then… well, there was the part of fighting Kirby against his will and a death that he’d…rather not mention, but apart from that everything was pretty blank.

“…Kirby?” Mario groaned. His vision cleared and there was Kirby, standing in front of him happy as can be. “Kirby!”

“Poyooo!” Kirby squealed, wrapping his tiny arms around Mario in a hug. 

Mario couldn’t help but reciprocate. Where was everyone else? So far, it looked like it was just him and Kirby. That wasn’t good in the slightest. That meant Galeem still had at least sixty fighters. Where was Luigi? Was Luigi okay? There wasn’t any way to find out at this point except to start walking, looking for fighters and other spirits that may have been taken by Galeem.

 “I don’t-a understand… What happened? How’d you survive?”

“Ee!” Kirby explained the best he could with what few words he could use (he ended up resorting to drawing diagrams on the ground half the time), starting with where he’d somehow managed to escape Galeem, and ending with where they were now, sitting like idiots in the middle of the floor crying with joy at seeing each other again. Man, if Kirby was this overwhelmed just from seeing Mario, was he going to react like that every time he saved someone else?

The two started walking into an uncertain future at this point. Kirby had a bounce in his step, just happy to be with his friends and save the world with them. Galeem wasn’t gonna stand a chance against him! Mario’s thoughts were more worried, though, about the safety of everyone. After the whole mess with Tabuu and his wish to turn everyone into trophies, Mario had a bit of time to realize that though they may all be the best of the best in their dimensions, there were bigger fish in the sea ready to take a bite of them, and Galeem was probably the biggest of them all.

That thought unnerved Mario. After all, if Tabuu had been the worst they’d encountered yet and then Galeem easily upstaged him, what was next? 

Mario was snapped out of his musing at this point by the fighter that blocked their path – rather, it was the  _ body _ of one of the fighters, but the spirit in there was completely different. R.O.B. was the body that stood in front of them, but the spirit… Mario wasn’t too sure how he knew this, but the spirit was The Guardian, from Link, Zelda and Ganondorf’s world. R.O.B’s unblinking robotic eyes glowed red, just as the spirits from previous battles had.

There was no way to get past this robot. Well, none that Mario or Kirby could see, anyway. He was way larger than Mario remembered, as well – towering at least four feet above their heads. The only way to win this fight was to take R.O.B. head-on, freeing the spirit from the mindless clone. Kirby had a feeling that this was going to be a difficult one, and he couldn’t do it alone. He turned to Mario at this point, a hopeful look on his face.

“Poyo?” Kirby asked, pointing at R.O.B.

Of course Mario was going to fight alongside Kirby. The Guardian was too tough to take down with one person. There wasn’t going to be any way to throw him out of the battlefield, so it was up to them to tough it out until one party loses. Hopefully it would be R.O.B./The Guardian. Wow, this whole Spirit in fighter body thing was weird to wrap a mind around.

“Let’s-a go!”

“Kyuu!”

* * *

Marth flew out of the Final Destination, yelping in pain as the light of defeat engulfed him and awakened him from his control.

_ Victory! _

Kirby exhaled in relief at the fight being over and sat down, watching as their surroundings changed again to the crossroads the duo had come across. Three captured fighters were at the end of this crossroad; one at each direction. Kirby had started by going left to free Marth, and it seemed to work, as the bonds released and he dropped down to the ground, sword clattering from his hand.

The blue-haired boy gasped as he stumbled to his knees, before looking up at the two. When he saw them, his mouth split into a wide smile that, in all honesty, looked great on him. “Kirby! Mario! I… what happened to us all? Where are we?”

Clearly, Marth didn’t remember much of what happened after Galeem seized control of everyone. The last clear memory was how they each had to take down about ten, and the light… that blinding, burning light that engulfed him and everyone else that Galeem could get his hands on. That wasn’t something anyone really liked to think about.

“Poyo!” Kirby started trying to explain what had happened up until that point. Due to the fact that Kirby was Kirby and only able to make adorable Pikachu-esque noises and the occasional word or two, it wasn’t working out the best it could’ve been. Eventually, though, Marth seemed to get the gist of it, and he slowly shook his head.

“…How could Galeem even do such a thing? And for what purpose?” Marth sighed. His English was certainly getting better at this point; in Brawl he couldn’t speak a word of it. In the fourth Smash tournament he knew  _ some _ , but it wasn’t enough that he was comfortable with it.

“Kyuu…” Kirby didn’t know, either, and sat down next to Marth. Mario ended up sitting next to Kirby as well, gazing out at the other two paths to take. Neither Mario nor Kirby could get a good look at who was bound up there, but surely they would be able to find out sooner or later.

“So, we are going to free everybody else and defeat Galeem,” Marth sighed, “But do not worry, everyone. The power of our friendship will see us through this.”

They got up at this point and started to walk towards the next of the captured fighters, ready to save two more friends. Soon, though, they were blocked by a copy of Master Hand. His fingers curled, and without saying a word, he snapped them and pointed his index finger at the trio. Force fields with the pattern of a honeycomb appeared in front of the other two captured fighters, and Master Hand disappeared, as silent as he arrived.

There went that notion they were going to collect two more fighters. This was gonna be a long day…

* * *

**Bonus Bit**

**Daydreamer Spirit: Victoria**

Name of Spirit: Victoria Chang   
Daydreamer Series   
Grade: ADVANCED

Found in: Camilla Swann   
Conditions:

The enemy favors kicks   
The enemy loves to taunt

Appearance: 

Description: Victoria Chang was Naomi's best friend up until the tragic accident that caused Naomi to distance herself from everyone. Before then, though, they had been nearly inseparable. Victoria and Naomi were the troublemakers of Bridge Creek, always able to get themselves into new situations no matter what the punishment for the last one was. She seems to be fond of wearing ribbons.


	13. Chapter 13 - Mushroom Dance, Mushroom Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kirby is my sweet and pure son and anyone who bullies him is subject to a proper thwack
> 
> Soooo I’ve made the decision to start updating this once every two weeks instead of once every week because, y’know, I can’t just duct tape a bunch of vague ideas together and consider it a oneshot because now I need an actual story. Quality over quantity, I guess. (totally didn’t end up writing a shorter than normal chapter because of the fact I am horrible at time management but shhh the chapters will be a lot longer starting c14 I swear)
> 
> But anyway, if you like my stuff, why not check out my Twitter for other thoughts, rambles, musings, and screaming over how amazing Shiba Inus or golden retrievers are? The username’s AwesomeTrinket!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Mushroom Dance, Mushroom Dance**

Kirby waddled on, this time with Mario and Marth by his side. The fog had cleared up after they’d freed a girl named Charlotte Aulin from a clone of Princess Zelda, the path unblocked when they released a Reyn guy out of Ryu’s body and a couple more spirits freed, and now the three of them were off to a place they had unofficially dubbed Mushroom Land.

The terrain was bumpy and rocky, making it difficult to walk. Kirby stumbled and flailed as he tried to climb up the rocks. Due to being a very small boy, it was far more difficult for him than, say, Mario or Marth. Eventually a tree root sticking up above the ground caught his foot and he fell forward, skidding onto the ground. 

“Poyo…” Kirby squeaked as tried to get back up.

Marth approached him, extending his free hand to Kirby to help him back up. “Are you all right?”

“Mhm…!” Kirby nodded, taking Marth’s hand and getting back up to his feet with his help. He started walking again, but alas, a rock brought him crashing to the ground again. Clearly, such a land was not fit for a little Kirby to be walking around in. Marth took note of this and lifted Kirby up at this point, placing him on his shoulders so he wouldn’t have to walk and trip anymore. Kirby made a “kyuu!” noise in thanks, happy as could be. 

They marched through the fields, saving spirits from the bodies of their friends and family along the way. Kirby hummed a happy little tune to himself, perched atop Marth’s shoulders. His childlike happiness was enough to easily boost the morale of the other two. Eventually the fog lifted, revealing some sort of mushroom land to the trio.

“Poyoooo!” Kirby squealed in delight at the sight of the colorful red and orange mushroom caps, hopping off Marth’s shoulders and jumping onto a cap. It was _bouncy!_ Kirby jumped up again and came soaring back down to the mushroom, flying back up into the air like he was on a big trampoline. A big smile was on his face as he squealed with each jump.

This got a large smile out of both Marth and Mario. As they started after Kirby, he bounced up to Mario, clutching something in his tiny arms. He held it out to his plumber friend, revealing it to be a green mushroom with white spots splattered all over the cap. Ah, it was a 1-UP Mushroom he had plucked from the ‘shroomy fields and decided it would be a good gift for Mario.

“Ah, a-thank you, Kirby!” Mario accepted the mushroom from Kirby.

“Eee!” With that, Kirby led the way for his friends, happy as could be.

* * *

_Victory!_

Kirby and Marth threw the last few copies of Wario out of the battefield, freeing another spirit. Someone called Chargin’ Chuck, apparently. They were apparently some enemy type from Mario’s world. The world reverted back to normal as they acquired the spirit of Chargin’ Chuck, before stepping on forward again.

“Galeem spared no one, did he?” Marth sighed, shaking his head; Falchion in hand.

Kirby looked sad, “Kyuu…”

He hoped Dedede and Meta Knight were okay. The three of them came to the edge of a mushroom, where a visible gap between that and the next ‘shroom was visible. Kirby bounced up, sailing through the air and tumbling down to the mushroom. It was more of an orangey color this time, instead of the vibrant red they had been walking on for quite some time now. Marth followed in Kirby’s footsteps first, leaping up into the air and landing next to Kirby; granted it was with much more grace and elegance.

They ended up fighting another spirit; a pink-haired woman named Brittany, in the body of Alph. A few more spirits went down for the count before they came across another captive fighter, held down by the same light that had once bound up Mario and Marth. The light shone too brightly to see who the fighter was, but either way, Kirby wasn’t going to let them stay captured.

Soon enough, as Kirby and Marth challenged the fighter, the light disappeared, and their eyes snapped open. Their body was round, like Kirby’s, but they were a bright yellow, and their limbs long and gangly. Kirby remembered this fighter! He used to have a few matches against him! This one had always been a good sport, but now…

_Vs. PAC-MAN!_

PAC-MAN started by dashing forward at them, before abruptly changing into his original self, during the very beginning of his world – a 3D cheese wheel and zooming towards Marth at an almost scary speed, biting at him four times. For a creature with no teeth visible, the bites sure hurt. Blood seeped from the wounds that PAC-MAN inflicted; causing Marth to grit his teeth and press his free hand against it in an effort to try and slow down the bleeding. He merely succeeded in smearing the blood on his arm.

Kirby summoned a hammer from nowhere and swung at PAC-MAN in an effort to get him to let go of his blue-haired friend. He reverted back to his regular self, eyes pressed shut as he took the hit and was launched into the air. Marth swung the Falchion upward to send him even further up. The three fought in the PAC-Land-themed Final Destination now.

“We’ll take him on from both sides!” Marth commanded. “This way, he won’t be able to go far without either of us ready to attack.”

“Kyuu!” Kirby nodded and ran off to the opposite side of the Final Destination. PAC-MAN kicked his legs out multiple times, hitting Marth on the face and shoulders. When he touched ground he took off before Marth could have a chance to hit him with another attack. The blue-haired swordfighter went after him, Kirby coming from the other side.

PAC-MAN stopped dead in his tracks, digging down on his heels. He looked back and forth at Kirby and Marth, both of whom were charging towards him ready to attack. Without warning he crouched down and threw Pinky and Clyde at both sides of him; Kirby was hit by the 2D pink ghost, while Marth by the orange one. The both of them were thrown into the air away from him. 

PAC-MAN reeled back his entire body like he was about to throw a punch with all his force, but instead of a punch, he hurled Blinky at Marth. The red ghost pummeling into him at scary velocities was enough to take him out and he flew back before being engulfed by the light at the edge of the battlefield, letting out a pained cry. Kirby made a strangled noise that sounded like either shock or anger directed at PAC-MAN. He inhaled a large gulp of air and started flapping up before the wheel with legs had a chance to send another attack in his direction.

Kirby’s body suddenly shifted into a weight with “100 t” written on the side in white, having used his Stone ability from his own world. Because he was now a 100-ton weight and not a light, buoyant Kirby, he went falling straight downwards on PAC-MAN’s head. He flew out of the battlefield, soon after Marth’s death. 

As Kirby changed back to his regular self, the world started to change back to normal, the battle now over.

_Victory!_

* * *

**Bonus Bit**

**Navigating the Bizarre Spirit: Alicia**

Name of Spirit: Alicia Nash  
Bizarre Series  
Grade: ADVANCED

Found in: Sheik  
Conditions:

The enemy is hard to launch  
The enemy doesn’t like to jump  
The enemy favors grabs and throws

Appearance: 

Description: Alicia didn’t choose the Nash life; the Nash life chose her. Born into the Nash family, a bloodline that has fought off the bizarre and paranormal for generations, the no-nonsense teenaged writer of the family has lived anything but a normal life. She could identify a fairy hive before she could walk and find the weak point of a goblin by preschool age. Nowadays, she runs a paranormal hunting business with her two best friends Mason Smith and Trevor Wilson.

 


	14. Chapter 14 - The Problems of Being a Smashian

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember guys, if we don’t get Naomi and Camilla in Smash as the next two DLCs we riot
> 
> ANYway, I hope you’ve all been enjoying The Ultimate Daydream so far! Don’t worry about the lack of Naomi and Camilla, we’re gonna be getting them back veeeeery soon. And yeah, for those who were wondering, Navigating the Bizarre is another book I’m working on, and Alicia’s the main character. Not too sure which one I’ll drop first, actually – NtB or Daydreamer.
> 
> While I’m rambling, why not check my Twitter out for memes, Kirby love, and more? The username’s AwesomeTrinket!
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 14  
** **The Problems of Being a Smashian**

Kirby poked at PAC-MAN just as he had with Mario, in an attempt to wake him up. PAC-MAN sat up as Marth pressed a hand at where his arm wounds had been just seconds before. That was odd. In Smash Mansion, the wounds stayed even after the battle was won. Well, at least that would be useful out here.

PAC-MAN made a “wakka” noise, unable to communicate with actual words, because he was PAC-MAN. Despite the lack of ability to talk to his newly rescued friend, Kirby squealed a “Poyo!” noise and smiled adorably. PAC-MAN seemed to ask what all the hullabaloo was about. Clearly, he didn’t remember much of Galeem, like Marth had.

Marth explained it to PAC-MAN the best he could, because really, how could you explain the whirlwind of events that was happening? PAC-MAN seemed to get the gist of it, though. Mario looked up at the sky, though, and yelped, calling for everyone to look. The remaining three did so, and were greeted by the sight of Galleem in the distance.

He was protected by a bright blue barrier with the same honeycomb pattern as the shields that protected other two fighters near the beginning of this quest. Something was launched out of the barrier, flying through the air like a flaming meteor. Eventually, it landed somewhere in the midst of all the fog, where it kicked up a storm in the clouds, only to settle down and eventually become unseen.

“…What was _that?_ ” Marth inquired.

PAC-MAN made a “wakka” noise and shrugged. The fog still surrounded the group, and there was no way else to really get past it but to shrug and start clearing their own path. The group started to walk, Kirby leading the way as he had been the entire time. The path had split into a fork; up and to the left or straight down. Kirby chose to go down, zooming face-first into the thick white fog. Along the way, they fought a couple of spirits; the Mites from Subspace now inhabiting Mr. Game & Watch’s many clones, Strangelove in Bayonetta’s body, and Roll Caskett in Isabelle’s body.

The fog lifted as they walked. PAC-MAN seemed pretty happy; a silly little smile on his massive yellow face and a small bounce in each step. Eventually they managed to blindly stumble their way out of the fog and into the grasslands. The massive rocks that towered over them all were truly a feat of Mother Nature, casting long shadows in the afternoon sun. It had been such a pretty day out. The kind that Kirby would take a picnic on.

There was a steel panel and screen embedded in the middle of one of the rocks. A blue swirl flowed around it. Another lone spirit stood in front of the screen; the spirit of a boy named Andy in Dr. Mario’s clone. Marth took care of him, though, freeing him in perhaps a minute.

“Poyo?” As Kirby took in the sight of the area, as the now-freed spirit of Andy floated over to the screen and started to mess with it. In a couple of minutes, the swirl disappeared and something on the screen beeped in response.

A pair of steel doors that Kirby hadn’t even noticed until now slid open as Andy disappeared, his work now done. The doors slammed to a stop, revealing an area covered in metal and other high-tech materials. What really caught his eye, though, was the glowing orange and white orb closer to the right half of the circle. PAC-MAN was the first to walk up to it, placing his hands at where his knees should be if he were a normal person in order to get a closer look at it. It was very bright, and he couldn’t see a thing.

Kirby started to walk up to it as well at this point, but stopped himself and backtracked once he saw the telltale light of a fighter being held down. He walked up to the fighter at this point. Though the light obscured most features, like it had with PAC-MAN, their form was noticeably more human than before. Shiny, too.

He squeaked as the lights disappeared, and the fighter’s eyes opened. It was Mega Man now; blue armor a stark contrast against Kirby’s pink and red color scheme. By now, PAC-MAN had managed to fall forward into the light and disappeared into it, but no one really care because they were more occupied with Mega Man at the moment.

_Vs. Mega Man!_

Kirby and Mega Man were dropped in the middle of his Final Destination, and Mega Man started charging towards Kirby, firing a couple of pellets from the cannon attached to his arm, the Mega Buster. They both managed to land a hit, and was followed up with an uppercut that launched Kirby into the air. Kirby made a “eyaaargh!” noise as he flew up, recovering mid-air and dropping down as a weight straight onto Mega Man’s head.

Mega Man was knocked off his feet as Kirby turned back to normal, tumbling next to Mega Man before scrambling to his feet. Kirby grabbed his hammer to try and throw him off the side of the Final Destination, but Mega Man responded by planting both his arms into the ground, launching two flame pillars at each side of him, hurling Kirby through the air again.

The battle raged on for quite some time, ranging from Kirby getting pummeled to Mega Man looking as if he could be thrown out of the Final Destination at any moment now. Kirby jumped up high, bringing a blade down to the ground. A shockwave traveled through the ground, finally bringing the last hit needed to send Mega Man shooting out of the Final Destination.

_Victory!_

The red disappeared from Rock’s eyes as the world reverted back to normal, Kirby sitting on the ground next to him.

“I…what happened?” Rock pulled his blue helm off and rubbed the thick black crop of hair he sported.

“Poyo!” Kirby drew a diagram in the dirt of everything that had happened so far, including the fighters he had currently managed to save up until that particular point.

Rock nodded slowly, “I see…”

He looked around, where Mario and Marth were now yelling into the orange orb. What they were saying neither Kirby nor Rock could hear from where they were. There was also the entire fact that PAC-MAN had gone missing from the last time Kirby had been here, so that was just a tad concerning.

“…Where’s PAC-MAN?” Rock asked. He stood up, Kirby by his side, and started making his way to the orb. It was also around now that Kirby realized his new PAC-friend was gone, and that worried him.

“A-PAC-MAN! Can you-a hear me?” Mario shouted into the orb. There was no response, because PAC-MAN was in a completely different area and could therefore not hear him.

By now, Rock and Kirby had gotten up to the others. Rock squinted at the light. It was the kind that would burn an image into his retinas if he stared at it for too long. “What happened?”

“PAC-MAN fell into the light, and we do not know where he went…” Marth responded.

“Oh…”

Kirby decided to take a risk and jumped up. “Poyooooo!”

“A-Kirby, no!”

“Kirby!”

“Kirby, wait!”

It was too late for that, though, as Kirby dived into the light. It blinded him for about a second or two, but as the light cleared away, it revealed a metallic, high-tech looking hallway that sprawled in front of him. PAC-MAN was sitting at the foot of the hallway, perhaps a couple of steps away from where Kirby was standing at the moment. He had his head tilted up and was making “wakka” noises up at the other two. Clearly, he could hear them, but not vice versa.

“Hiiii!” Kirby waved at PAC-MAN.

He looked back down at Kirby, before smiling and waving back at him. Kirby walked up to him, and just in time, too, as Marth ported in through the orb and then Mario and finally Rock. The four of them drank in the sights together. Beyond the hallway was a room with what looked to be a dead end – two different pathways at first glance, both of which blocked by a blue screen with the number “2” on each of them.

The third path (directly in front of them) did seem like it could be a doorway, but was blocked off by a spirit – a Primid in Mr. Game and Watch’s body. Once the Primid was freed, the area was now free, proving that it was, in fact, a doorway. Seeing as they had no other option, the group started to go forward, into a new room.

“This place is practically a labyrinth…” Marth remarked. 

Rock nodded along, “Yeah…”

There were two other hallways at this point; one to the left and one directly up. To the right was a strange-looking machine that had a “1” on top of it. The crew split up, Marth and Rock going one path, while Mario went the other, leaving Kirby and PAC-MAN to mess with the orange machine. Kirby started poking around on the screen, without really knowing what in the world he’s doing. The machine went from glowing orange and turned blue.

Almost instantly, there was a change – namely, Rock calling out about what did they do, a couple of the screens just disappeared. Kirby waddled through the path that Marth and Rock had taken, realizing that though there were solid blue screens with the numbers 2 through 5 all over them, there weren’t any with 1 on them.

It was around this point that Kirby realized that it had to be because of the machine he and PAC-MAN fiddled around with – meaning that there were fourmore similar machines scattered throughout the base. This was a great breakthrough! Now all they had to do was to find fourmore machines and deactivate them in order to get through the entire base.

“Poyo! Poyo!” Kirby started jumping up and down, trying to get his point about the machines across. Because he had no dirt to draw diagrams on and could not form coherent sentences, he was unable to do so. Through context, though, PAC-MAN seemed to understand. And thus a quest began a quest to find the rest of the machines, deactivate them all, and then search the corners of the base through and through.

The problems of being a Smashian, Kirby thought, meant that when everything went wrong, it was up to them to save the world from certain doom.

* * *

**Bonus Bit** **  
** **Navigating the Bizarre Spirit: Isabelle Nash**

Name of Spirit: Isabelle Nash  
Bizarre Series   
Grade: NOVICE

Found in: Princess Peach  
Conditions:

You constantly take minor damage  
The enemy is easily distracted by items   
Timed Battle

Appearance: 

Description: Though she’s also part of the Nash family, Isabelle never really understood what Alicia or her parents meant when it came to the bizarre – she never had goblins coming out of the bathrooms or experienced a zombie outbreak in school. Though she and Alicia frequently get on each other’s nerves, Isabelle’s always the first to throw punches at anyone to defend her little sister.


	15. Chapter 15 - A Little Swann Told Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: okay you’ve got your personal problems solved now, can we please get back to writing ultimate daydream  
> Me to me: let’s hit the slump and hate writing anything
> 
> Alright, let’s get this show on the road, baby! I know this was meant to be the chapter made for 2 weeks ago, but like my apology said, due to personal reasons, I wasn’t able to write at all. I’ve also sort of hit “The Slump,” where I don’t want to work on anything, not just Ultimate Daydream. I’ve had this a few times these past few years, and frankly, it sucks. I just gotta plonk my butt down in the chair and write, though, and here I am. Also, I’m pretty sure I’m posting this on Saturday or Sunday, but in that case, I’ve officially become one year older as of September the 13th! [celebration noises]
> 
> Fun fact: this fanfiction is now officially longer than my manuscript of my first full-length novel I’ve got so far, Decaying Lily
> 
> While I’m still talking about this kinda stuff, why not check out my Twitter for the occasional meme and other thing? The username’s AwesomeTrinket. Alright, alright, I’ll stop rambling and just get on the story at this point.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 15  
** **A Little Swann Told Me**

Though the underground base didn’t seem like it would be too bad at first, Kirby found himself growing disappointed once he hit his fifth or sixth dead end. A while back, he had found the spirit of Dr. Wily lurking in one of the clones of Dr. Mario (it was still a bit odd that Kirby’s plumber pal with the red hat and Dr. Mario were considered different people) and a chest that had helped strengthen some of the fellow spirits coming with him, but that was about it.

The group had decided to split up and cover more ground, but frankly, it seemed like they would get nowhere at this rate. Rock and Kirby’s paths had crossed a couple of times, and Rock seemed to be having the same amount of luck that Kirby was. At this rate, they would never get anywhere…

Kirby encountered a few other spirits after turning back from his dead end; namely, Porygon, Duon from the whole Subspace Emissary fiasco, and Bomb Man, who had been from Rock’s world. Eventually, he made it to the next terminal, labeled “3.” Messing around with it for a couple of minutes disabled all the similarly labeled translucent screens.  From there, he went back down where he came from, seeing as he had no other way to go.

Kirby came back to a fork in the road that he had been through before; east or north. Seeing as he had just gone north, he went east, to find the fourth terminal, protected by another spirit: Revolver Ocelot. He was in Fox’s body, but a quick battle took care of that, and soon enough he found himself disabling the fourth terminal.

PAC-MAN ran into Kirby just as he was leaving the room. His mouth was twisted in a way that he gave off an aura of urgency.

“Poyo?” Kirby tilted his head, and PAC-MAN started to run after making a couple of noises. The way he moved seemed to prompt Kirby into following. They went through a couple of twists and turns, but eventually they made it into a room whose space was mostly taken up by a large machine, labeled “2.” Why this computer was so large compared to the others, Kirby didn’t know.

Evidently, Kirby wasn’t the only one that PAC-MAN had gotten as back-up. Marth and Rock were staring at the machine in awe, taking in the sight of its metallic hull and twisting wires. It looked like something straight out of East Oclania’s technology. Even Mega Man seemed like he was in awe of the sheer size of the computer.

“What is this thing…?” Marth wondered.

Rock said, “It’s not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”

“Poyo…”

Three spirits guarded this computer, instead of just the usual one. Marth suggested the group split up; PAC-MAN and Kirby would take care of the toughest one while he and Rock finished the others off. That meant Kirby got stuck with the Parasite Queen, though he wasn’t _too_ upset. At least he was fighting alongside his friends.

The power of teamwork prevailed or some other cheesy moral like that, and soon enough they had the computer area completely cleared out, leaving them free to switch off all the screens with “2” on them. Kirby made a cheering noise and jumped up; realizing that meant they only had to find one more terminal before they could go off and save more of their friends.

At this point, the last screen blocking off Terminal 5 disappeared, which meant that Mario (who had been in search of it) was free to go into the pathway that led to the machine. But alas, it was not meant to be, as a fighter guarded the terminal. Her eyes snapped open, and Camilla’s white hair flew by in a blur as she spun around and took the first swing at Mario, even before they had been dropped into her battleground.

* * *

The first sign of where the fifth terminal was located was that Mario flew out of the hallway and landed on the floor, in front of Marth’s feet. He gasped and held out a hand to him.

“Mario! Are you all right?”

Mario made a groan noise and took the hand, getting up to his feet. Kirby made a noise that could be either confusion or concern as he released just how beat up Mario looked. Clearly, whatever was in that room just gave him a massive pummeling of a lifetime.

“Well, I-a found the fifth a-terminal…”

“What happened?” Rock spoke up somewhere near the back of the group; standing next to PAC-MAN.

“There’s-a Camilla guarding that-a one,” Mario looked back at where he came from, as if expecting her to be right behind him. She had fallen dormant again, though, and stayed put, guarding the fifth terminal like she was supposed to.

“Kirby and I will go and face her,” Marth took control at this point, “Rock, PAC-MAN, stay with Mario.”

“Understood,” Rock nodded.

PAC-MAN made a “wakka” noise in response as Kirby chirped happily; just the thought of saving his friends was enough to put him in a good mood. With that, the two of them were off, heading into the hallway that Camilla’s body was kept in and used for creating mindless clones of her. The two of them soon came face-to-face (well, almost) with the white-haired Ravinan.

_Vs. Camilla Swann!_

Camilla’s Omega stage surrounded them; the stars glittered in the night sky and the wind whipped at her hair. Camilla was surprisingly quick, much unlike Naomi. With her sleek silver gunblade in hand, she charged towards Marth and swung her leg out for a fierce kick in the shin. It took Marth by surprise, sending him to the ground as Kirby swung his wooden hammer at Camilla.

It whacked her across the leg and she yelled in either pain or surprise (Kirby wasn’t too sure which). Using this, he kicked upwards, directly launching the Ravinan into the air as Marth got back up to his feet. The girl seemed to recover quite well, though, and hoisted her gunblade up, closing one eye and firing three rounds at Kirby. The blast threw him onto the ground, and the recoil hurled Camilla backwards even further.

She flipped forward, landing on her feet without a sound as Marth slashed at Camilla. The Ravinan was pulled towards him with both slashes, before jabbing her own blade at his gut and finishing her move off with another kick to the knee. Marth took a nasty stumble as Camilla reloaded the gunblade and rested the barrel on her shoulder momentarily.

“That all you got?” She asked, cool as can be. Her familiar East Oclanian accent still tinged her voice, but she sounded…different, somehow.

Kirby got up and together, he and Marth charged at her. Admittedly, she put up a very good fight, spinning and attacking at nearly every moment. Camilla even managed to throw Marth out of the Final Destination, but even Ravinans weren’t immune to fatigue and constant damage, and eventually, Kirby somehow managed to grab her and hurled her off the platform at terrifying velocities.

Camilla screamed as the light engulfed her, and Kirby won the battle.

_Victory!_

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
** **Daydreamer Spirit: Maximus**

Name of Spirit: Maximus Krei  
Daydreamer Series  
Grade: ADVANCED

Found in: Marth  
Conditions:

The enemy loves to taunt  
The enemy favors side attacks

Appearance: A young vampire with blonde hair tied up into a bandanna. He usually wears loose white garments and is almost never seen without his signature weapon; a long and thin lance.

Description: Though he was not born a Ravinan, Maximus and his family moved to East Oclania when he was young, seeking political asylum. He’s Camilla’s best friend since childhood. Though he can be smug and cocky, has a soft side that he’s not afraid to show to people he trusts; including Naomi Liu.


	16. Chapter 16 - Snakes in a Base

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is Wednesday my dudes. …okay that’s a lot funnier to me because I started writing this author’s note on a Wednesday so yeah
> 
> ANYway, we are back for another chapter of Ultimate Daydream. For some reason, this chapter was WAY easier to write than the previous four were. I think it’s because I finally have control over at least one character who I’m totally familiar with (Camilla).
> 
> I know I tend to push this a lot even though I don’t really post on there very frequently (hoping to change that but still), but why not check out my Twitter account if you like my stuff? Once every two weeks or so I decide to go on a rant about something Summoner’s War, shiba inu or FF7 related. The username’s AwesomeTrinket.
> 
> With that said, I’m gonna try and stop the second draft of this author’s note from being two pages again, and get on with the story.
> 
> I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.

 

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 16  
** **Snakes in a Base**

Camilla inhaled and called out, “NAOMI!”

Her voice echoed through the steel walls of the base, but ultimately, there was no response. Cheddar yipped by her ankles, jumping up and down as he realized where he was, which was much different from what he and Camilla last remembered. There was no doubt that the puppy was confused beyond words (or barks) could convey.

“Camilla, I don’t think she’s here,” Rock admitted. “So far, you were the only fighter we found here.”

Camilla turned to face Rock and the rest of the currently freed fighters. Mario was still sore from the utterly savage beat-down Camilla had let loose on him just moments before, and even Kirby was sitting down to rest after such a battle. Marth was trying to tend to both his and Mario’s wounds, which had been evidently caused by the white-haired Ravinan.

Choosing to drop the subject of Naomi, Camilla instead asked, “What happened since the…well, the explosion?”

Rock filled her in on the details that he knew of, along with bits that he had gotten from either Kirby somehow or Mario.

“…And that’s how we found you here,” Rock finished with.

“I see…” Camilla nodded ever so slowly, “So you have all been scouring the base, looking for any other captured fighters?”

Marth responded with a solid “yes.”

Camilla paused for just a moment, before she came to a conclusion, “…Let me help you all. It is but the least I can do after you all saved me from Galeem’s control.”

“Poyo!” Kirby chirped, happy as could be that he had another friend with him on this great adventure to save the world.

“Right, then!” Camilla stood up straight, gunblade resting on one shoulder and face set with determination. “We have no time to waste. There could be many more fighters in this base still trapped by Galeem.”

Cheddar yapped, almost as if in agreement. After PAC-MAN disabled all of the gates labeled 5 from the base, now that it was no longer being guarded by Camilla, they were off. Camilla led the way at this point, Kirby on her shoulders. There were no more gates blocking off any paths, as far as Kirby could tell, which left them free to explore it down to the last hallway.

“You know, this place reminds me quite a bit of R.I.B.B.O.N., the organization I work in back at East Oclania,” Camilla mused. “It’s so quiet in this base, though. I can’t recall a dull moment from back at R.I.B.B.O.N.”

“Poyo…” Kirby rested his chin (body? head? no one was really too sure) on the top of Camilla’s head. Her hair was soft.

They went back up to an area that Kirby had been before, but had an entryway that had previously been blocked off by a gate with a “5” on it. It had been the room with the third terminal, and now there was another path that had previously gone unexplored.

The hallway was so small that the group had to walk single-file. It was cold down there, and already Camilla could feel a large, sinking pit of claustrophobia in her stomach. It was fairly dark, and even with the enhanced eyesight of a Ravinan, Camilla had to squint in order to see where she was going.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Marth said.

Rock added in, “That makes two of us.”

“Three,” Camilla finished as the barrel of the gunblade scraped against the wall, nearly causing PAC-MAN to jump.

And then the hallway opened up into a large, mostly empty room. As she went through the doorway, Camilla hit the top of her head on the door and started spluttering curses and exclamations of pain in East Oclanian. There was nowhere to hide here, and at the end of the room stood a fighter. This one had a silhouette that was clearly human, much to Kirby’s surprise. A spirit guarded this fighter – said spirit turned out to be Metal Gear REX; someone that Marth and Rock quickly took care of. All that was left now was the fighter.

“…Snake?” Camilla asked as the light cleared. Indeed, the fighter had been her old friend, Snake. No wonder he was guarded by Metal Gear REX. Kirby stepped up to the challenge, and Camilla couldn’t help but follow him into battle.

_Vs. Snake!_

The two of them were dropped into the Final Destination, and were immediately bombarded by a hand grenade, chucked from afar. It hit Camilla and blew up right in her face. She mused for a moment that, had she been in her world, such an attack would have immediately killed her. Here, though, there wasn’t even a drop of blood. Nevertheless, it was still painful, and a scream ripped its way out of her throat.

Snake dropped down from somewhere and started throwing punches and kicks at the duo. Kirby ran off to unleash a shockwave from the Final Cutter as Camilla grabbed Snake by the arm and threw him to the side, scrambling to her gunblade and loading a round of electric bullets into the chamber. With the rifle pressed to the side of her face, she _tried_ to aim a shot at him, but it seemed Snake was too fast, and a clear shot was near impossible.

“Come on, come on, come on…” Camilla growled under her breath, unsure of what, exactly, she was trying to egg on into happening. A hard-hitting punch to the face knocked the weapon away from where she had positioned it, leaving her vulnerable for another hit.

The Ravinan was knocked off her feet by a sweeping kick from Snake. He crouched down, as if getting ready to perform another attack, though Kirby dropped down from the sky as a 100-ton weight and landed right on his head. If the situation weren’t so fast-paced and serious Camilla would have laughed at the absurdity of this scene in front of her. As Kirby went back to normal she finally fired an electric bullet, coursing electricity through Snake’s body as Kirby returned to Camilla’s side.

“Come on, Kirby,” Camilla said, “Let’s finish Snake off and get him out of here.”

Kirby chirped a “poyo!” in response.

Together, the two of them charged towards Snake…and promptly got thrown forward in the blast as a sneakily placed C4 blew up. So that was what the crouching as all about. Man, Camilla would have to learn a bit more of Snake’s tactics from him after all this was over. He had some _moves_ ; albeit very painful moves. That was definitely gonna hurt in the morning.

“Alright,” She snarled, “now you’ve done it!”

Camilla really hoped Snake would forgive her for this when he got free, but right now, all she had on her mind was murder. Using her arms to bring herself back up, she reloaded the gunblade and put the blade part of it to use, swinging wildly at Snake as Kirby got ready to unleash another batch of extremely powerful slaps on him. Before he even got the chance to, Camilla grabbed Snake again and kicked forward, throwing him out of the Final Destination.

_Victory!_

* * *

“There’s an exit right up there,” Camilla nodded once at where she had been the hallway. The group (with the new addition of Snake) had returned to where they had entered the base, trying to decide where to go next. The hallway in question had previously been blocked off by three layers of walls, but with all five gates cleared, they would be safe to go.

 “We will go in groups,” Marth said, “Kirby, Snake, Camilla and I will go on ahead and clear the way for Mega Man, Mario, and PAC-MAN.”

Kirby squeaked, “Poyo!”

“Got it,” Snake grunted.

Camilla loaded another round into her gunblade. She noticed that she had been frequently reloading for a while now, but responded with a solid “Alright!”

“We have no time to waste,” Marth led the way for the four. “Let’s go!”

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
** **Final Fantasy 7 Spirit: Yuffie**

Name of Spirit: Yuffie Kirasagi  
Final Fantasy 7 Series  
Grade: ADVANCED

Found in: Naomi  
Conditions:

The enemy loves to taunt  
The enemy is easily distracted by items

Appearance: Yuffie has short, dark hair that goes down to her chin, and a white bandanna. Tends to wear a green turtleneck sweater and a large, protective white gauntlet across her left arm.

Description: Yuffie is loud, brash and quite cocky, but she’s known to be quite loyal and can be a caring friend when she needs to. Born as the daughter of Wutai’s leader, Godo, Yuffie has tried desperately to restore her home town’s former glory after the Shinra invaded and banned Materia. Wields a large, bulky shuriken.


	17. Chapter 17 - Wait for Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _WE ARE BACK AGAIN FOR ANOTHER CHAPTER OF ULTIMATE DAYDREAM I'M ON MY FOURTH CUP OF COCOA AS I WRITE THIS WOOOOOO –_  
>     
>  _I think I've finally conquered the secret to defeating writer's block at this point. I've started doing 500 words a day on three or four projects, which allows me to stay focused and inspired for everything, not get burned out on one particular thing a day, AND it still allows me to hit my goal of 1,500-2,000 words a day. It's gotten me through three chapters of Ultimate Daydream and five weeks worth of unrelated projects now._
> 
> _I'm not gonna shill my Twitter anymore because (let's be honest here) I never post on there anymore, so instead, why not check out my blog? I write reviews about books, games and movies and update on the 1st, 15th and 30th of every month. Sometimes I talk about popular stuff, and other times I'll do stuff you may have never heard of! I'd really appreciate it if you could check it out; my review of Alita: Battle Angel's going live on the 15th.  
>  It's called [Sara's Review Corner.](sarasreviewcorner.wordpress.com)_

 

_**I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners.** _

* * *

**Chapter 17  
Wait for Me**

Everything was  _supposed_ to go right. Really, it was. At least, that's what Camilla had told herself a couple of times. They were going to leave the base without any other problems, and then they'd wander off to find more captured fighters and – hopefully sooner rather than later – Naomi. But let's be honest here; would Camilla Swann  _really_  be Camilla Swann if something didn't go completely and horribly wrong?

It wasn't that she was cursed with bad luck; at least, Camilla was pretty sure of that. In fact, everything generally went her way during her first seventeen years of life. Best in her class, got into R.I.B.B.O.N. quite quickly, and gained a reputation for being the best sharpshooter in her galaxy. All that perfect luck ended up getting a wrench in the works the  _day_  Naomi blundered her way into Camilla's life, though.

Camilla stalked near the front of the group, gunblade loaded and helmet planted on her head. Night vision was engaged now; tinting everything in her sights in a pink light. The hallway had since become pitch black now, and frankly Camilla would be lying if she didn't have an uneasy pit sitting in the bottom of her stomach. Nothing good ever happened to her before in dark hallways.

"No threats in sight," Camilla said. "It's like everything backed off once they knew we were coming."

An uneasy comment came from her left; she identified the speaker as Marth. "Or that something else is waiting for us…"

"Poyo!" Kirby squeaked. Despite going on a great world-saving adventure with Kirby twice now and fought together with him, Camilla  _still_ wasn't sure what he was saying. Did anyone really know? Man, Camilla wished she still had Naomi with her.

Wait, did she really just think that? She actively missed the hyper, rambunctious Naomi Liu she'd grown to know? The same Naomi who ate a slice of moldy pizza from the trash, nearly threw up, and  _still_  finished it?

Whatever. Her brain probably wasn't functioning right anyway, not after Galeem captured her.

The hallway took a turn to the right. Camilla nearly crashed into the bend. Grumbling, Camilla tried to lead the way for the others again, but was pushed back – granted it had been rather gently – by Snake, stating that he should lead for now. Kirby offered her a sympathetic smile, and Camilla resisted the urge to make some snappy comment about how he'd been free for less than she had.

No, no, no, it wouldn't do her any good to be her typical…well, Camilla self. Emotions get in the way of battle and planning. She'd already learned that back in R.I.B.B.O.N.

The hallway was a little brighter now; not bright enough that she could disable night vision, but it was good enough.  _Naomi, Naomi, where are you, Naomi…?_ If she ended up letting the  _jiang-shi_  stay under Galeem's control, almost two years' worth of training would be lost, everyone would lose their last resort against Queen Fatima, and… okay, yes, Camilla would also lose a very good friends of hers.

Kirby bounced in step with all of his best friends, as happy as could be. Camilla wished she had that kind of enthusiasm. Oh, that was why she missed Naomi so much. Despite everything the girl had been through, she was still able to plaster a smile on her face and tell some corny jokes that somehow manage to make Camilla laugh every time she heard them.

_Aw, fantastic, I'm actually worried about Naomi now. Great._

"Well, of course. Why wouldn't you be?" Rock turned to look at her.

Camilla realized she said that out loud.

"…No reason," Camilla shrugged. "It's just…never mind. Eyes up front, everyone!"

With that, Camilla fell silent again, now making sure she didn't let any stray thoughts slip out of her mind. Only rookies made mistakes like those. Oh well. She was probably the most experienced in cosmic horrors in this room, Camilla would probably be fine. The hallway ended rather abruptly, connecting into a large room that  _would've_ been their one-way ticket out of here – key word  _would have._

The room was mostly empty, save for the vortex of darkness swirling in the dead center of the room; tinges of color surrounding it. Just looking at the thing sent a pit of uneasiness in Camilla's stomach that she had only felt once, and that was the first time she came face-to-face with the queen of darkness, Fatima herself. The black feathers on her wings still haunted Camilla's dreams sometimes.

"…I dunno what that thing is," Snake motioned at the vortex, "but I got a feeling he's not here to show us the exit."

"Very funny,  _Snake_." Camilla said with her usual deadpan sarcasm, as if trying to put on a farce that Camilla Swann was not, in fact, absolutely terrified.

"…So, who wants to approach him first?" Rock piped up somewhere near the back.

Well, it was the job of an East Oclanian to put their lives on the line so that others wouldn't have to. Camilla didn't want to do it, but she  _did_  basically sign up for this.

"I'll go," Camilla sighed, checking the gunblade for what had to be the fifth time in as many minutes just to make sure it was loaded. Before anyone could stop her, she stepped up and forward, mouth drawn into a tight line. Without warning, her vision went dark, and the ground gave way underneath her feet. The feeling of hurtling through darkness at some absurd speed tugged on Camilla's limbs, and it took all she had not to scream.

Camilla dropped to the ground, and she was a little less than proud to admit that she fell to her knees, though she scrambled back up before anyone could see her blunder. …Well, not that anyone  _could_  see her. She was alone, in what looked similar to a parking garage. Just the center of the room was lit up, like Camilla was in some sort of spotlight.

_Vs. ???_

In front of her was a grey and purple tank, which looked like it was made of metal. Camilla was just about to poke it when it sprung to life, unfurling and popping out new limbs and joints in front of her, until it had unfolded into an oddly familiar face, back during the days of Brawl. Both violet fists pumped into the air and steam poured out of some well-placed vents, before turning to directly face Camilla.

By the time Camilla realized it was Galleom, her mind fully processed his form. Did he get  _bigger?_  Somehow, he was way more intimidating than she remembered.

 _I am_ so  _screwed._

No chance to back out. Either she fought this guy to the death, or she got the worst beat-down of her life. Camilla had just barely raised the gunblade when Galleom launched missiles from his shoulders, falling downwards and giving Camilla enough time to roll out of range. A missile whizzed by her face, so close that if she had been just a centimeter closer it would have taken the skin off her nose.

Even for the almost seven-foot tall Ravinan, Galleom towered over her, and for a brief moment Camilla was glad she had decided to bring a long-ranged weapon with her. She dashed to a corner that was partly shrouded in darkness, lifting the gunblade back to her shoulder and aligning the scope with her right eye. The crosshairs locked onto an elbow joint, and she squeezed the trigger, firing the bullet.

A string of East Oclanian curses shot through her head as Galleom seemed to dodge the bullet just in time. By the time she changed positions to try and fire another round, Galleom was reeling back and spun Camilla into an attack that was like a tornado of fists and metal. To say that everything would be sore for weeks would be an understatement at this point. Oh, there she went, thrown across the room. The Ravinan pilot skidded across the floor, gunblade clattering next to her.

Camilla decided that, if time had stopped while she was in this...place, she was going to make up a story of how she fought Galleom valiantly, and they were both on the brink of destruction. But at the last minute, the evil robot had let loose his most powerful attack, and had she been in top shape she would have easily survived, but alas, she was exhausted and battered, so she had been taken out by it.

...Okay, she would figure out a better story as she went along, but she was  _not_  telling the group that she got knocked out cold by two well-placed uppercuts. Camilla slid across the floor, landing at the feet of her comrades.

"- Camilla!" Marth gasped, holding out his hand to her to help her up. "What happened?"

Camilla responded with a guttural growl not unlike that of a zombie, electing to just let the pain of her previous fight wash over her instead of losing what little dignity she had left. This was gonna be a long day...

_Just wait for me, Liu. Don't get yourself into trouble._

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
Navigating the Bizarre Spirit: Mason**

Name of Spirit: Jason "Mason" Smith  
Navigating the Bizarre Series  
Grade: NOVICE

Found in: Robin  
Conditions:

No one knows how to swim  
The enemy shields often  
The enemy tends to avoid conflict

Appearance: Mason has long, dark and curly hair and wears glasses with red frames. Likes to wear a large crimson hat with a black brim.

Description: Mason is Alicia's best friend since childhood, and tends to be the total opposite of her more often than not – she's friendly and warm, he's shy and quiet. Their most notable difference is their views on the paranormal, though: Alicia wants nothing more than to lead a quiet life free of the bizarre, while Mason harbors an almost unhealthy obsession for spirits and necromancy. Despite that, they're extremely good friends. He's also warmed up to Trevor Wilson as of late.


	18. Chapter 18 - Further and Further

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are back again with another chap of Ultimate Daydream, I can barely feel my toes it’s so friggin’ cold outside IT’S OCTOBER WHO GAVE OCTOBER THE RIGHT TO BE THIS COLD I DON’T WIKE IT
> 
> Aaaaaanyway, I kind of ran out of Spirit ideas for the Bonus Bits, so until I can think of some more spirits to do, you’re just gonna get some Naomi and Camilla movesets. It’ll usually just be the neutral, up, down, and sides all in one, but if I have any movesets that are super complicated, I’ll end up devoting a whole Bonus Bit section about it (e.g. Hero’s down-B would get a whole section if I made Hero).
> 
> I’m gonna take this moment to shill my blog again, called [ Sara’s Review Corner, ](https://sarasreviewcorner.wordpress.com/) where I review books, games and movies on WordPress. If you like my other stuff, why not check that out? I’m gonna either be posting a review for the movie Eli or the book The Tomorrow Code on the 30th, so you’ll have that to look forward to. The schedule of posting may get a bit wonky in the near future, but as of right now I post on the 1st, 15th and 30th of every month.

  ** _I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._**

* * *

**Chapter 18  
** **Further and Further**

_Victory!_

The final blast from Camilla’s gunblade seemed to do the trick. Lucky timing, too – that was her last electric bullet she fired. Galleom rattled and shook and seemed to practically self-destruct, launching bits and pieces of the battle ‘bot into the air. Camilla ducked and covered her head from any flying debris, and in the corner of her eye she saw Marth doing the same thing.

The two of them were finally released from the battlefield, battered and bruised but alive nonetheless. Camilla turned to the faces of her concerned teammates, before exhaling a sentence she thought she’d never be able to say at this rate.

“We… we did it. We got him.”

The entire group went up into cheers, Camilla electing to sit down and finally take a breather. They must have spent hours trying to take Galleom down; switching out who goes when whenever someone lost in order to give others a chance to recover. It was time to leave this place. The door was open, and after a brief rest, the group was off.

“Ohhh, I don’t remember the last time I saw _light!_ ” Camilla groaned, shielding her eyes from the sudden burning brightness. The underground base had been dimly light, and they’d been in there for so long that her eyes had since become adjusted to the darkness.

Rock, despite being a robot, also made a gesture to cover his eyes from the sunlight, “I think I have a newfound appreciation for the light.”

“Makes two of us,” Camilla said.

With a couple of fighters now freed, they set off again into the unknown; in search of others who may have been captured. Oh boy, oh boy, once Camilla got her hands on that Galleem, she was going to give him a piece of her mind. And by ‘a piece of her mind,’ she meant ‘a bullet to whatever place would instantly kill him if given said bullet.’ No one tried to capture the great Camilla Swann like that and create mindless copies of her for spirits. _No one._

A quick battle with another spirit cleared up a large amount of fog that blocked the path, allowing them to continue on. The group passed by a blue pipe, much like the ones that Mario jumped through. However, blocking it was a pile of rubble that was insultingly tall – just high enough that no one could jump or climb past, so for now, they had to move on, much to Mario’s chagrin. Camilla couldn’t blame him; the pipe had piqued her interest, and now she too was curious about it.

At some point, Kirby got a bit tired of walking, and Camilla offered to carry him. He squealed in delight at this, and without another word (but with a massive smile that couldn’t be helped) Camilla lifted him up like a small child and placed him on her shoulders. She remembered once how Naomi had asked Camilla to carry her, after she had torn a wing, but was otherwise perfectly fine.

Looking back at this moment, Camilla realized her answer of “you’ve got _legs_ , don’t you?” was a bit harsh. Though they wouldn’t freely admit it, Naomi was nice to have around as company.

Naomi had asked Camilla one night, back before even Brawl happened, “Y’know what I really miss?”

“No, but I’m fairly sure you’re going to tell me, anyway,” was Camilla’s answer. They were stationed on the Ravinan R.I.B.B.O.N. base somewhere on the planet Gumars, due to reports of Amber Night Stalkers running amok there.

“Hot pot. Authentic, Chinese hot pot. The kind with Szechuan peppers as the base and filled with celery and beef and all that stuff.” Naomi said, lying on her back and her hands up in the air. “My – my dad used to make it all the time. Every other Saturday was hot pot day. It was _so good_. My mouth would be burning from the spice, but I couldn’t stop eating. It was that good.”

Camilla sighed at this, and turned to look at Naomi; drawing her attention away from her gunblade. “…You really loved your dad, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I do,” Naomi sat up to smile at her.

Camilla snapped out of her remembrance as they came to a fork in the road.

Rock took a look around the area, “…So which way do we want to go?”

Camilla noticed the colorful glow of a spirit on the left path, and made up her mind. Spirits potentially meant that a fighter was nearby – at least, Camilla was fairly sure about that. She hadn’t been around for this trek enough to be completely sure.

“I don’t know about you all,” Camilla started walking, “But I’m going left.”

“Poyo!” Kirby squeaked, clapping his hands (paws?) once. No matter what happened, he was always able to be happy, and it was the cutest thing.

How long would Camilla have to go until she found Naomi again? Man, this was like the Bridge Creek incident all over again, back when Naomi had first been discovered as the last jiang-shi...

* * *

**Bonus Bit**

**Naomi’s Down Special**

**Down special – Inline Skates.** Naomi actually has a special mechanic that comes with its upsides and downsides, called Inline Skates. Holding Down and B will make her equip a special East Oclanian pair of rollerblades. Down and B with the blades already equipped will make her un-equip them, allowing her to walk around as normal. These blades are faster than regular rollerblades, and equipping them will give her a _massive_ boost in speed – in fact, she becomes the third fastest character in the game, beaten only by Sonic and Acceleratled Hero.

When Naomi has the rollerblades equipped, she’ll leave trails of light in her wake to confuse the enemy. The color of the light depends on what skin the player has on her, but the default skin brings a light blue trail.

There _are_ downsides to the rollerblades, though. Her jump height decreases, and her fall speed becomes faster, due to being heavier from the blades. She also can be tripped while moving with the blades – if you hit her with an attack while she’s moving around, she’ll fall forward. Additionally, in order to stop her, you have to either jump and let her drop to the floor, or let go of the directional button you may have her on, and she’ll start braking to a stop. If you try to change direction while she’s mid-braking, Naomi will end up falling forward.

In other words, you’ll exchange jump height and easier use for an extreme boost in speed for Naomi. For a normally somewhat-slow character without the blades, it’s quite a significant change, too.


	19. Chapter 19 - Every Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Al-right, everybody! Who’s ready for some more Ultimate Daydream? I know I am! WOOOOO-_
> 
> _Apparently, November is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. I’ve never participated before – tried to, but didn’t – but this year, I’m gonna try to get 25k words done on one of my novels, because it’s already got another 25k to it. I’ll try to give updates on how that goes along if you’re all interested. I’ve calculated that I need to write about 966 words per day if I wanna make this goal, so there’s also that._
> 
> _Anyway, if you like my stuff, why not check out my blog? It’s called[Sara's Review Corner, ](https://sarasreviewcorner.wordpress.com/) where I review books, games and movies. I just pushed two reviews out the other day, one on the book The Tomorrow Code and another on Garret Freymann-Weyr’s Stay with Me. My updating schedule may get a bit wonky as time goes on, but for now, new reviews come on the 1st, 15th, and 30th of every month!_
> 
> **_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

**Chapter 19  
Every Day**

_“You ever miss them?” Camilla asked Naomi one night, after the younger of the two had been particularly quiet. “Your parents, I mean.”_

_Naomi paused, as if unsure of how to respond, before giving a soft sigh and nodding. “…Yeah. Every day. I still blame myself, actually.”_

_Seeing the normally bright and animated girl so quiet put Camilla at unease, “Why would you, though? There was no way you could’ve stopped that accident that made you…well, you.”_

_Here Camilla vaguely motioned at Naomi, referring to how she became a_ jiang-shi.

_“I know. Really, I do, but…” Naomi chewed at the inside of her mouth, not taking her eyes off the ground where they were seated, “Sometimes I think ‘it should’ve been me that died that day.’ It’s stupid, but I still think that, even though I know my parents – and the rest of the world, for that matter – would be worse off if I’d died. Is there a name for my stupidity?”_

_Something tugged at Camilla’s heart and whispered in her head that Naomi was speaking straight from her own heart; that she really thought that. “…Yeah, actually. ‘S called survivor’s guilt in your language. It’s quite common, and it’s not stupid.”_

_“Mm,” was all the answer Camilla got in response._

Camilla wasn’t too sure why that memory decided to resurface all of a sudden. The memory took place at some point during one of Naomi’s first few missions, while they were stationed someplace far off. Camilla remembered it happened a bit after the hair-burning incident, too.

She and the rest of the group that had been freed from Galleem’s grasp were at Beedle’s Location, after they’d saved the spirit from the clone he’d been caught in. Currently, they were stocking up on things that they would need for their journey. Food, water, extra weapons (and in Camilla’s case, ammo), everything that you think you would need on a journey.

“Kirby, do you really need that many tomatoes…?” Marth gently asked.

Kirby stubbornly clutched the tomatoes to his face and let out a muffled squeak of “ _poyo!_ ” Camilla assumed that meant yes, he did in fact need them. It reminded her of Naomi. Camilla groaned and shook her head. She needed to stop _thinking_ about Naomi. Needlessly worrying was never going to get her anywhere.

For now, she turned her attention back to her ammo, turning her case of electrified bullets over and over in her hand. Camilla had been pleasantly surprised when Beedle had said that he had ammo for East Oclanian weapons in stock, though she wasn’t as surprised when he followed that up with the fact that so far, she was the only one who had bought any.

Eventually she grabbed the last of her supplies and placed them on the counter. Beedle read out her total, and she found herself cringing. At East Oclania, she only had to pay maybe half that amount, if not less, for her amount of bullets. Nevertheless she sighed and forked out the cash. She only had East Oclanian currency on her, but it could easily be exchanged for any other currency type anywhere in the universe – even Earth, surprisingly.

With all this ammo and supplies, there was no way that anything could go wrong, right?

* * *

To say that things were going wrong was a total understatement. First, the group came up and started to free the spirit of a Red Pikmin, a Master Hand showed up and destroyed a bridge they were about to cross. Good thing no one was on there.

The next problem to occur was Donkey Kong. Don’t get Camilla wrong, though; the fact that the group had found another captured fighter was great, because that was one more person to save from Galleem. The only problem was that when you were fighting against a literal ape who was being controlled, he tended to go all out in his battles.

All that, of course, was just fancy talk for saying “Camilla got beat up by Donkey Kong. Really hard.”

After finally managing to defeat and win over Donkey Kong, they ran across a crossroad. A large argument ensued that made them all decide to break up into groups to investigate a different path on the crossroad. Camilla got stuck with Donkey Kong and Snake. At least Snake was tolerable to be around.

The final cherry on top of this massive sundae of anger bubbling up inside of Camilla was that she found Naomi – except it wasn’t her. No, it was the spirit of Daroach, in a mindless clone of Naomi. This Naomi was… _hungry_. She didn’t have the talisman on. Oh, _no_ , Daroach must have taken it off. That poor guy had no idea what it would do to her – and him by association.

“Naomi” laughed maniacally, running one hand through her bangs. She had a massive grin on her face, and it was really only then that Camilla really noticed just how big her fangs were. Naomi had always used those fangs for good before, rarely feeding unless she absolutely had to. But now…

…Well, she had only lost control _once_. That was back before she knew how to use her sudden new _jiang-shi_ abilities.

Naomi looked odd. Don’t get Camilla wrong; she was a perfect clone of the Naomi she knew. But with her face twisted into a dark grin like that, it was like she was a different person. Her shuriken was clutched eagerly in one hand, and the young teen looked ready to taste some blood.

Naomi was surprisingly quick too; before Camilla could even raise her gunblade she had the Ravinan down on the ground, hurling haymakers at the girl. Camilla kicked her in the gut and scrambled back up, the damage was too much, and with a firm shoulder-slam, Camilla went flying out of the battle, deeming that attempt to save someone in Naomi’s body a failure.

Yeah, today really wasn’t going to be Camilla’s day.

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
Naomi’s A-Moves**

“Naomi may not look like much at first, but the young _jiang-shi_ brings a variety of long- and short-ranged moves with her. Equip her East Oclanian-grade rollerblades to move like the wind and leave trails of light in her wake!”

**Note:** Naomi can perform up to five jumps in midair.

**Neutral Attack** – Naomi thrusts the shuriken out in front of her and starts rapidly spinning it. The initial hits deal 3% damage per hit. When you hold down the button, she continues to spin the shuriken, though the damage is reduced down to 1-2% per hit.

**Forward Tilt –** Kicks forward once at the enemy. The base damage is 10%, while the tip is 6%. It’s fairly quick; coming out at frame 8 and can KO middleweights starting at 140% in the edge of the Final Destination.

**Up Tilt** – Swings the shuriken upwards in an arc, dealing an uppercut to the enemy and knocking them slightly into the air. One of her better KO options, due to the fast startup, decent damage and knockback.

**Down Tilt** – Crouches down and throws the shuriken at ankle-height, dealing damage before returning to Naomi. The shuriken can deal damage while returning, though it is significantly less damage than the initial throw. Both hits can trip the enemy.

**Dash Attack** – Deals a powerful shoulder-slam that has significant knockback, but average damage.

**Forward Smash** – Naomi throws a punch directly forward. It has a fairly quick startup, but has weak damage and average knockback.

**Up Smash** – Swings her leg up in the air, launching opponents upwards with considerable knockback. It’s one of Naomi’s fastest ground moves.

**Down Smash** – Punches straight down at the enemy. Known for its fast buildup and decent damage.


	20. Chapter 20 - The Strange Case of Naomi Liu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. Look. I’m not going to lie anymore; I really should have ended Ultimate Daydream at around Chapter 10, if not stuck to the lighthearted antics that I started with. I’m going to be real for a little bit here. I’ve DREADED writing UDD chaps since… I’m going to say Chapter 13 now.
> 
> I’m sure the few of you who are still reading this have noticed the dip in writing quality and chapter length. I really do feel bad about this, but I kept writing because I felt like I didn’t want to disappoint you all. But right now, I’m honestly super burnt out, even after switching from once a week to once every two weeks. I might not update UDD after this in a long time, if not just completely stop now.
> 
> You all wouldn’t be mad if I did, right? It’s better to have quality than quantity. I just miss those days where I’d wake up and be like “oh boy, I got five UDD chap ideas floating in my head, let’s do this, baby!” Just in case I do end up actually completely ending this, I just want to say thank you to Elysium16 for sticking with this thing for so long, even after I myself wouldn’t want to read this again.

**_I only own Camilla Swann and Naomi Liu. Everyone else in the Super Smash Bros universe belongs to their respective owners._ **

* * *

**Chapter 20  
The Strange Case of Naomi Liu**

Who was Naomi Liu, anyway?

Well, that was easy enough for Camilla to answer. Naomi Liu: the girl who was the last _jiang-shi_ in the universe.

The girl who loved food almost as much as she loved her parents.

The girl who, despite all the odds, still managed to come out on top while laughing her head off at the terrible joke she told herself.

The girl whose mindless clone Camilla was fighting right now.

The Naomi clone took her talisman off at some point (or at least the spirit in her did), and now look at her. A maniacal version of who Naomi once was now stood in front of Camilla, holding her shuriken in one hand and leaning forward. Her hair flopped in front of her face, giving an ominous look to her.

This wasn’t the first time Camilla fought this spirit, and it wouldn’t be the last. Marth had offered to go in with her, but she turned him down. Honestly, she wasn’t too sure why. Maybe a part of Camilla thought that _she_ had to be the one who had to save this spirit.

Camilla wouldn’t lie. This version of Naomi was tough. Really, really tough. It was like she’d lost everything that made her… well, _her_ in battle, and now was just on a slashing and clawing frenzy. That hurt to think about. All the memories, quirks, and just everything that made a person what they were was forgotten, instead replaced by those of the spirit in her.

Speaking of that spirit, who _was_ he, anyway? He didn’t seem to be the one in control of the body. Well, at least, Camilla hoped he wasn’t. Seeing Naomi so murderous wasn’t something she liked seeing, and she hoped that whoever was in there wasn’t doing it for the enjoyment of seeing her get so hurt. That just wasn’t a Naomi thing to do.

No, no, that’s not Naomi. That’s just her body.

Camilla had to keep reminding herself of that. Then again, when you were staring in the eye of the girl who you’d trained for two years, shared countless memories with, and had even become close friends with; it was kind of hard _not_ to look just skin-deep. It just felt wrong.

Naomi slid back to the edge of the battlefield, hair falling over one eye again. Her breathing was heavy, and a smile spread across her face. Those fangs glinted in the light. The members at R.I.B.B.O.N. had gotten so many accommodations for her and… well, her soul-eating part that, if it weren’t for the talisman on her face and the classic vampire fangs, Camilla would forget on a regular basis she was a _jiang-shi_. Even with the wings.

“I know you’re probably not in there,” Camilla called out to the spirit in her, Daroach, “But just know I really don’t want to do this to you!”

It was like he didn’t even hear her. Naomi’s body had those East Oclanian-grade skates on; the ones Camilla had gotten her as a gift for completing her first mission successfully. The blue streaks of light were blinding Camilla. This Naomi knew how to make sharp turns on a dime, twisting this way and that.

Without warning she took off again, this time going directly towards Camilla’s face.

It was like Camilla was operating purely on instinct now; before this Naomi could even lift her arm up to throw the shuriken Camilla fired a round of shots from the gunblade (set to “stun,” of course; Camilla couldn’t even find it in her to _lethally_ shoot this Naomi). Naomi screeched as they all started sending bolts of electricity through her. A quick jab in the stomach took her out surprisingly quick after that; hurling her past the boundaries of the battlefield with a loud scream.

_Victory!_

Though Camilla had merely freed a spirit trapped inside of Naomi’s body, she felt… exhilarated. Like she’d been doing her part to make sure that, somewhere, Naomi would be okay. Even if that was just a clone of her, that was still one less version that’d been forcefully made.

Where was Naomi, anyway? Camilla felt like she’d been asking herself that for ages now, but the point still stood. All these fighters around her getting freed left and right and she couldn’t find the fighter that she was most worried about. Wherever Naomi was, she was going to find her, free her, and then ask in a very stern yet worried tone about why she hadn’t ran when Camilla said to.

“Do any of you ever worry that, maybe, some fighters are permanently lost?” Camilla spoke up a few minutes after fighting Daroach.

Marth’s expression was kind and his tone free of judgment, “You’re worried about Naomi, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” She nodded. “I’d completely forgotten that spirit was in a mindless clone of Naomi at times. It looked just like her, had the same voice, but… I don’t know. Perhaps it makes me miss the real thing a bit more. Naomi may have been a lazy vampire and got on my nerves to no end, but she’s still nice to be around. A genuinely kind friend.”

“She’s out there!” Rock declared, “I mean, you were captured and we found you."

“…You have a point, I suppose.” Camilla sighed. “Maybe I’m just the paranoid East Oclanian as always. She’s probably fine.” Saying that didn’t make her fully believe it, though.

As they fought on, the fog lifted and cleared a path for them all to go through. Maybe, at the end of one of those paths, Naomi would be there. They’d get into a fight, Camilla would eventually free her, and then the two of them would be one of the first to give Galleem the beat-down he so undoubtedly deserved. That was how these things went, right?

Camilla walked off into an uncertain future, determined to find the world’s last _jiang-shi_. The girl with all the optimism in the world. Her friend.

* * *

**Bonus Bit  
Naomi’s Taunts In-Game**

**Fun fact:** Naomi Liu has the most taunts out of any fighter, clocking in at six taunts: three on her rollerblades, and three not on the blades.

Up-Taunt: Pulls out a random food item and starts eating, eyes closed. The food alternates from a sandwich, a bag of East-Oclanian branded potato chips, and a chocolate bar.

Down-Taunt: Slides a pair of over-ear headphones over her head and starts listening to music.

Side-Taunt: Points either left or right and yells “ _You’re a brick on a stick!_ ”

Up-Taunt (Rollerblades): Pulls her feet together so that they form a V. This is known as the pose needed to stop yourself from moving while sedentary on the rollerblades.

Down-Taunt (Rollerblades): Leans down and adjusts the straps on her rollerblades.

Side-Taunt (Rollerblades): Spins around in a circle on one wheel, one leg sticking out behind her.


End file.
